The Demon of The North
by Luke Deadman
Summary: "I will defend my family, no matter the cost..." Cregan Stark is a monster, a murderer and an abomination. To his family, he is only Cregan, but to others, he is The Demon of The North. When The Game of Thrones forces a war between kings, will Cregan be able to save his family from death, or will he succumb to his bloodlust and lose himself forever.
1. Prologue: The Demon

**Prologue: The Memory of Spring**

Cregan Stark, third of his name, second son of Lord Eddard Stark, twin brother to lady Sansa Stark. The Demon of The North as much of The North called him. Unlike his brothers and sisters Cregan did not value Honor and Justice above all else. He was a cold person, almost all of his life he has shown no emotion, most of the time he will be training alone whether it be the moment the sun rises or the middle of the night.

Even his family had become distant to him, whenever they would eat together Cregan will take a loaf of bread and a flask of water to eat alone, sometimes he would not speak to anyone for days but when he does it will either be in a single sentence or just a simple Yes or No reply and even when he does his voice will be just above a whisper.

Today Cregan's father was going to execute a deserter from The Night's Watch and had told his 3 eldest sons and his bastard Jon to come with him.

"Do I have to go?" Bran, the second youngest son whimpered trying to avoid the execution.

"Yes" a simple reply came from his brother Cregan who was busy saddling his horse and putting on his bear fur coat.

"But why?" the boy continued to whimper to Cregan's annoyance.

"Sooner or later your going to have witness death if you want to become a man" the Greyjoy boy behind Bran said with a small smile.

Soon the three heard Lord Stark speak "Let's go you two" he looked towards his younger sons as Robb was standing beside him.

 **1 hour later...**

As they arrived Cregan saw the deserter, beaten and bruised, but not sure if the guardsmen had done that or something else did. The deserter let out a sigh as he saw lord Eddard holding the ancestral sword of House Stark.

"Ice..." Cregan murmured to himself as his eyes widened a bit to observe the blade. It was a massive greatsword with an equally great hilt to hold it up. Of course Valyrian Steel is notoriously light, even for a giant weapon such as Eddard's sword. The blade had a blue tint to it making it's color almost the same as the skies, if the sky in The North wasn't always dreary and lifeless.

"Do you have any last words?" the boy looked up to Lord Eddard as he murmured those words to him. "Please... tell my family that I'm sorry for being a coward..." after that he then put his head down on the chopping block and accepted death.

Lord Eddard lifted up his greatsword "In the name of Robert Baratheon, first of his name, Protector of the Realm and ruler of The Andals and The First Men, I Lord Eddard Stark, lord of Winterfell and Warden of The North hereby sentence you to death" and with one swing Eddard decapitated the deserter. During all of this Cregan and Robb observed their little brother to see how he would react to the execution and to their suprise the boy didn't even flinch. Eddard then walked towards Bran, "The one who gives the order must also swing the sword, remember that Bran". And with that they all mounted their horses and began to go back home.

Before they completely left the small little hill where Eddard executed the deserter Cregan took one last look at the bloodied chopping block as the Stark bannermen dragged away the decapitated corpse of the deserter. _'At least you died with your honor intact friend, even if it was a pointless death...'_ he thought to himself before turning back and rejoining with his father and siblings.

On the way home Jon noticed the large corpse of a bloodied buck, it's rotting flesh covered in worms and other maggots. Everyone immediately dismounted their horses and went to inspect the corpse of the buck.

"Gods, what could have done this?" Theon asked looking around trying to find the beast that had commited the crime.

Out of everyone Ser Rodrick Cassel saw a blood trail leading to a small stream and near that stream was something nobody expected to see. A massive corpse covered in fur which was mostly covered in blood. It was clear this was the corpse of a wolf, or at least something resembling a wolf. In it's torso a massive antler was stabbed into it and the blood spilling from the wound still seemed to be quite fresh.

"Good Gods that's a..." out of everyone Theon seemed to be the first to snap out of the shock of seeing what was in front of them.  
"A direwolf" Cregan finished Theon's sentence with the same emotionless face he always has, seemingly not affected like everyone else.

"There aren't supposed to be any direwolves south of the wall" Ser Rodrik said, still in shock.

"Well now there are six of them Ser Cassel" Cregan said in an almost mocking tone that is if he could display any other tone than bored or irritated.

"They won't survive without their mother, killing them now is a mercy" Lord Eddard gave two pups to Theon and they pulled out daggers to put them out of their misery, but before they could finish the job they were stopped by Bran.

"Father, please no... don't do this." the little Stark wolf cried "Please Father we can take care of them, we can feed them, we can - " before Bran could continued his pleading he was also interrupted by his father.

"I'm sorry Bran, there's no other way" as Eddard started to grab one of the pups Jon intervened

"My Lord Stark... there are six pups here... one for each of your children..." as Jon continued Eddards grip on one of the pups loosened, he turned toward his 3 sons with a somewhat stern expression. "You will feed them yourselves, you will train them yourselves and when the time comes you will bury them yourselves", Brans face lit up as a large smile appeared on his lips. As each of the older boys took two of the pups in their arms Bran turned towards Jon.

"But what about you?" as Bran asked that Jon let out a small and somewhat sad smirk.

"I'm not a Stark" as he said that however, a cry was heard around a small stump, when he saw what was making the cries his eyes widened as Jon pulled out a small, red-eyed and white-fured direwolf who was seperated from the litter.

"The runt of the litter, that one belongs to you Snow" Theon said mockingly and with that they all returned home.

 **The Next Day...**

When they returned home all the Stark children choose a direwolf and named them. Robb had named his direwolf Greywind, a name fitting due to the wolfs grey coloured fur and supposed swiftness. Cregan named his direwolf Sif, a name he had gotten from a story he heard long ago, a story about the great direwolf Beyond The Wall. Sansa named her direwolf Lady due to her being the more elegant and clean of the litter. Arya named her direwolf Nymerya, inherited after the great queen of Dorne who some would argue forged that realm. Bran named his direwolf Summer after a long period of thinking. And finally Rickon named his direwolf Shaggy Dog, almost immediately after he had gotten him.

Cregan's wolf, Sif, was a silverish grey coloured wolf with green sapphire eyes almost like a cat's. While everyone was playing with their new pets Sansa saw her twin brother slowly caressing Sif on his little head as she saw him do something she thought she would never see her brother do again... she saw Cregan smilling.

 **Note:**  
 **Alright so just so we are clear this is a rewrite of the first chapter where I format everything a bit better and I generally try to just a bit more of writing. The main reason I have done this is because I've been reading some of my old chapters and god almighty do I have trouble reading them. I will eventually rewrite all of the old chapters to make them all match a bit better so yeah expect this being a regular thing. And now, here are all of The Stark children's ages:**

 **Robb Stark - 17 years old**

 **Cregan & Sansa Stark - 15 years old **

**Arya Stark - 12 years old**

 **Bran Stark - 9 years old**

 **Rickon Stark - 5 years old**

 **Eddard & Catelyn Stark - 35 years old**


	2. Chapter 1: The Godswood

**Chapter 1: The Godswood**

"Can I come with you?" Arya whined, much to her older siblings annoyance.  
"No" Cregan said, putting it as simply as he always does.  
"Please" Arya continued stubbornly.  
"No" Cregan repeated himself, his annoyance only rising.  
"Why not?" Arya just kept getting on Cregan's nerves.  
"Because your to young to go on one of MY hunts Arya" after he said that Cregan turned towards his younger sister stopping her dead in her tracks.  
"But -" before she could say anything else Arya was interrupted by Cregan.

"I SAID NO..." Cregan shouted out, well, shouting as much as his voice allowed him. Cregan's shout startled Arya so much that it looked like she had almost jumped out her skin. Nobody was used to having Cregan shout at them, of course they were used to annoying him as that wasn't something so hard but him actually getting mad was a rarity, especially with his family. When Cregan looked at his startled sister he sighed and got on one knee so they can be on equal eye-level "Listen Arya, when you get older you and me are gonna go for a grand hunt and who knows, we might even catch The White Stag..."

With that the girls skin lighted up a bit, "Promise?" she asked.  
"On my honor as a Stark" Cregan placed one hand where his heart should be and gave Arya a small nod.

With that Cregan saddled his horse, readied his swords, placed his bow and arrows to the horse's mounted quiver and grabbed whatever supplies he needed but only the bare necesities. "Leaving so soon, Brother?" Cregan turned to see his older brother Robb walking towards him with a grin on his face, "I was hoping you would stay a bit longer." Cregan then began putting a black coat and hood adorned with the Stark crest.

"Sorry Robb but to be frank, every second more I spend here is a another second i want to scream from claustrophobia" Cregan put it bluntly.  
"Your home to cramp for you Brother?" Robb says in a sarcastic tone expecting a retort but only to be glared at by his brother for a few moments of silence.

"Yes..." and with that he mounted his horse preparing to leave but first made one last glare towards his brother, "say goodbye to Mother and Father for me" and then with one kick his horse started to gallop through Winterfell with his direwolf Sif breaking into a run following his master, leaving his brother to cough on the dust left behind him.

 **Robb's POV**

Robb entered the main hall to be greeted by his mother,father and all his other siblings. They were all eating together with Robb's father and mother at the head and all the rest of his siblings were sitting to the sides. As Robb sat down to eat breakfast he noticed his sister Sansa looking around for her twin. "Where's Cregan?" she finally asked, ending the silence in the room.

Arya looked to her with a sad expression "he already left..." everyone turned silent and continued to eat until the youngest, Rickon had spoken up. "Mother, why does Cregan hate us?" his face starting to turn red as his sadness became obvious.

Catelyn was shocked that one of her children could even think that of each other, before she could answer her youngest son however Eddard jumped in, "Rickon, Cregan doesn't hate he only likes to be left alone...".  
"But why?" Rickon continued to ask his parents desperately trying to figure out why his brother behaves like he does.

In truth Robb has always wondered this himself, 'Why IS Cregan so cold towards everyone'. Although it was not always like this, in his earlier years he was like any other boy cheerful, bright, playful and constantly making everyone in the castle smile from his brothers and parents to the simple servants. But then on his 10th nameday he changed...

Cregan stopped smiling, stopped playing with other kids and basically stopped showing any emotion to anyone. He started training with both sword and bow eventually developing his own technique that requires dual-wielding. He became a remarkable shot as well as one of the most formidable fighters in all of Westeros. One day Robb tried to reconnect with his brother and suggested they spar together. As they fought Robb witnessed Cregan's technique first-hand, a mix of speed and precision matched with brute strength, every strike Robb barely blocked with his one blade, at first Robb was trying to be playful with Cregan but in a mere 30 seconds Robb was face down in the muck covered in bruises, the words Cregan then said to him will forever stay in his mind

 _'Never try to toy with your prey, Brother, block, dodge and parry until you find the perfect opening and then give them a clean and honest death'_

 **Cregan's POV**

 _'Breathe'_  
 _'Breathe'_  
 _'Wait for a clear shot'_

Cregan attached an arrow to the string of his bow and pulled while taking a deep breath. With one eye closed he waited for his prey to allign with his line of fire. A giant brown Buck appeared from the bushes not noticing Cregan. Finally, Cregan let loose to have the arrow fly towards the Buck landing in it's eye and going straight through it's skull. "Tcn, Tcn" he let out a small sound to Sif signaling him to retrieve the Buck's carcass. "Let's hope that's enough for you and me, Sif" he said as his companion gave out a cheerful bark and they went back to the makeshift camp Cregan made for him,Sif and his horse. "Time to go to sleep buddy, with luck well be able to get back to Winterfell tomorrow before the Royal Army comes" with that the two went to sleep and the next morning they prepared to go ba-...

"AAAAGH"

A scream was heard coming from the east, Cregan and Sif immediately started to go to the direction of the scream, Cregan pulled out both of his swords while still mounted on his horse, Sif charged forward at his masters side letting out a howl in the proccess.

"AAAAGH" the scream became louder as Cregan and Sif continued to charge towards the origin of the sound.  
"Quiet girl or else I'll cut that pretty tounge of yours." one of the men hissed. They wore no real armor only makeshift breastplates and shoulder guards.  
"What do you think we should do with her?" another man asked.  
"Oh I am going to have a lot of fun with you little princess." the leader of the group said with a despicable smile on his face.

"You will do no such thing" the group quickly turned around to see Cregan standing behind them, swords in both hands and a very angry direwolf beside him.  
"And who in seven hells are you?" one of the men once again hissed.  
"Who I am doesn't matter, I am giving you all a choice now, leave and you will have my mercy, stay... and I kill all of you." Cregan said plainly.  
"OH HO HO, aren't you the funny man" the person who appeared to be the leader walked up to him holding a dagger and placed it near Cregan's eye

"Tell you what, how about I carve out your eyes and make the girl over there eat them and then-"

Before he could finish his threat the bandit started to gurgle blood as he noticed that he had a sword rammed through his throat. "Alright... who's next?" he turned towards the others, his blade still in the bastards throat. All of the bandits eyes widened as they finally realized who they were trying to intimidate.

"Its-its-its ITS THE DEMON!" the bandit screamed while dropping his axe and running the opposite.  
"Fuck this I don't want to die today" the other bandit also began running the opposite direction of Cregan.

The bandits fled from Cregan with piss in their boots and shit in their pants, screaming and panicking allong the countryside. Cregan wipped of the blood on his blade on the bandit leaders corpse and sheathed both blades as Sif slowly aproached the girl still in shock of what happened. "Are you okay?" Cregan said in a soft voice reaching out his hand to pick the girl up, Sif licked the little girls face trying to clean the girl up but it only frightened her more. "It's okay, he's not going to hurt you" Cregan then picked the girl up to her feet and continued to question her.

"What's your name?" he asked while carrying the little girl back to Cregan's horse.  
"I-I don't know.." the girl didn't want to make eye contact with Cregan, her whole body still shaking with fear. "Where are your parents?" Cregan continued to question her.  
"Dead" she said without hesitation catching Cregan off guard, her black hair was up to her shoulders and it was covering most of her face, her head still aimed towards the ground once again avoiding eye contact. "How old are you?" he shrugged off the girls fast response and once again asked her another question. "I- I'm Five" she then finally lifted her head to reveal her amethyst blue eyes staring at Cregan.

After a few seconds of thought he once again reached out his hand to the girl "It's to dangerous out here, come with me, I'll keep you safe" the girl then grabbed Cregan's hand as they once again started to walk towards his horse.

 **3 hours later...**

As the two entered Winterfell Cregan was eyed down by almost all of the servants,guardsmen and merchants who were staring at the young noble holding a sleeping girl beetwen his arms. When he entered the inner courtyard his parents and siblings were staring at him dumbfoundedly. He carefully dismounted the horse paying attention not to wake the poor girl up.

"Cregan who is that?" his mother said in a whisper so she wouldn't wake the girl. "I'll tell you later mother, right now I need you to get maester Luwin." Cregan said while holding the sleeping girl, her face,feet and hands completely bruised and muddy. "Cregan-" Catelyn grabbed Cregan's arm trying to make him stop but to no avail.

"Now mother..." Cregan's voice commanded his mother to back off and with that he simply continued to walk towards his chambers.

 **Note:**  
 **Here is chapter 2 and just to ebriveate Cregan was hunting to prepare for the feast when the royal army comes. Just think about it like his own personal therapy for whenever he's angry, nervous, frustrated, bored etc. Once again, this chapter has been rewriten to just format things better as well as fix some grammatical errors that I found myself. If you still find some writing errors in this chapter the I'm sorry, I am not a fucking computer.**


	3. Chapter 2: The Sweet Song of Steel

**Chapter 2: The Sweet Song of Steel**

 **Winterfell, Cregan's chambers, Early Afternoon...**

"Cregan who is this girl?" Eddard asked his son, being as confused as everyone else in The Stark Household.  
"I don't know Father" Cregan answered simply, his expression being emotionless and his tone constantly neutral.  
"You don't even know her name?" the maester chimed in trying to calm the two Starks, interrupting them in the process.

It's been 2 hours since Cregan brought home the mysterious girl, the girl whose name he did not know. "Maester what can you tell us?" Eddard asked his maester, still curious about the girl. As Eddard asked that The Maester continued to inspect the girl's many injuries one more time before finally answering him.

"Based on the bruises on her feet it's seems that the poor girl has been running for days." Luwin inspected her hands and feet carefully, moving his hands not to hurt her. "Seven hells..." Theon, shocked at the news began to talk "could she run that long without food and water".

"You would be suprised how much the thought of losing your life would help you keep running Theon..." Cregan never broke eye contact with the girl who was lying on the bed as he talked to Theon. Unlike many in Winterfell, Cregan knew how much the feeling of your blood rushing through your veins during a battle felt like. When something dangerous and life-threatening happens to anyone basic survival instinct will always take over. That survival instinct could be talking their way out of the dangerous situation, fighting their way out of the dangerous situation and, of course, run away from that dangerous situation.

Eddard then took a few steps towards the girl, "Where are your parents girl?" he asked. Cregan moved his eyes towards his father as he already knew the answer to that question.

"Dead..." the girl looked directly into his fathers eyes as she told him the news.

Eddard sighed to her answer. "I feared as much..." Eddard said as he took Cregan to the corner to discuss the situation at hand.

"We can't just leave her, she'll die out there on her own." Cregan immediately argued before his father could even say a word.  
"I don't plan to..." Eddard said, sighing at his sons words that were too true, "she will stay here".  
"We will see to her wounds, we will feed her, we will educate her." Eddard continued, suprising Cregan although his expression didn't give that away.  
"Are you suggesting what I think you are?" Cregan had already figured everything out by this point but he only needed confirmation.  
"Aye, the girl will become my ward." and with that, Cregan's suspiciouns were all confirmed.

In truth, Cregan was suprised at the notion although he did expect such behaviour from his honorbound father. The same thing could have been said about Theon when Cregan's father took him as a ward after The Greyjoy Rebellion. While Cregan himself wasn't living in Winterfell when Theon was taken in by his family, he did know what it was like to be in a different place with strangers, away from your family.

As everyone left the room Eddard gave one last look towards the girl who was staring at the ground again before he also left leaving only Cregan and her. "W- what's gonna happen to me?" the girl looked up towards Cregan, her eyes getting wider and her voice filled with concern.

"Don't worry, you will stay here" Cregan took a seat next to her, "Now you should get some rest, tommorow is going to be very tiring, trust me" he patted her on the head as he left the room leaving the girl alone. The girl covered herself in the fur covers as she notices a pair of catlike eyes staring at her, Sif then approached the girl and rested next to her feet as the girl finally calmed down and went to sleep.

 **The Next Day...**

"Creeegan... Creeeeeeeeegan" a playfull voice echoed through Cregan's ears, as his eyes opened he saw the smiling face of his twin sister.

"What is it now Sansa?" Cregan asked, his voice barely above a whisper as his eyes were also not even trying to wake up.  
"Did you forget what today is?" Sansa's eyes widened as she moved back a bit to give her brother some space to get up from his bed.

"No, what day is it?" her smile returned as her brother was to dumbfounded to remember what today is of all days.

"It's our nameday." Sansa said, expecting a reaction from her brother but still not being suprised when Cregan didn't give one.  
"Huh, alright then but what are you doing here so early?" Cregan said, once again not showing any emotions as he got up from his bed and put his clothes on.  
"Cregan it's noon." Sansa furrowed her brow to her twins lazyness.  
"Oh... well shit" he sighed thinking about how he could have been training all day but now he only has the afternoon.

Sansa was annoyed at Cregan for not even remembering his own nameday but she came to expect that from her brother. "So if todays our nameday does father have anything planned out?" Cregan asked, turning towards his sister while buttoning his brown leather jacket. "There's going to be a feast in our honor this evening" Sansa answered.

"So can I-" Sansa's eyes cut her brother off mid-sentence, "No Cregan, you're not going to train till the feast nor after the feast. Today is our nameday and that means that today is no-training day".

"But-" Cregan tried to defend his case only to once again be interuppted by his sister.

"No means no Cregan" and with that Sansa ended the argument with herself being the one on top.

Sansa then walked towards her brother "Cregan promise me you will be at that feast" she said.  
"I promise" Cregan murmured to her, his tone littered in annoyance.  
"Cregan..." Sansa warned her brother, her tone being somewhat of a warning.

Cregan took a long sigh and placed his hand where his heart should be "On my honor as a Stark".  
Sansa's smile returned "Good, and put your shirt on first before buttoning your jacket" she said while walking out the room.  
 _'Ah shit, how do you always notice these things Sansa'_ Cregan then put his clothes on properly this time and then went towards the little girls chambers.

 **A few minutes later...**

As Cregan entered the room he saw his mother, Arya, Bran and Rickon talking to the little girl as they notice him walking into the room.

"Cregan there you are" his mother said in her ussual soft, calm and motherly voice.

"Mother" Cregan said, taking a bow towards his mother.

"We were just talking to Lyarra" his little sister said looking at her brother with a grin on her face.

"Lyarra? so that's your name" he looked at the little girl, feigning something of suprise but as everyone in Winterfell knew, Cregan isn't easily suprised.

After that the little girl started to speak to Cregan looking at him with her amethyst blue eyes "Cregan, your mother told me that today was your nameday...".

Cregan's eyes widened for only a split second, Lyarra's voice was much more mature than yesterday and certainly more than her younger brother Rickons voice. Yesterday Lyarra was nothing more than a quivering small child, too scared to even answer simple questions. Now, she looked so calm and collected. It was strange, but in the end Cregan couldn't help but feel relieved that Lyarra is currently comfortable.

 **Note:**  
 **This is a filler chapter leading up to Cregan & Sansa's nameday in which he will receive a very "special" gift. The whole next chapter is going to be at the feast so get ready for food, dancing, wine, people throwing up outside the main hall etc.**


	4. Chapter 3: The Sweet Song of Steel 2

**Note: First of all... Thank you to Amelia831 and mpowers045 for their suggestions that can be seen in this chapter as well as all the people who followed and favorited this story you guys are the ones that keep egging me on to keep writing these stories so thank you all for that.**

 **NOW ON WITH THE CHAPTER...**

 **Chapter 3: The Sweet Song of Steel part 2**

Evening had come and the feast was about to start. Cregan was adourned in the usual Stark noble outfit while Sansa was wearing a silk blue dress, as they both entered they were greeted with warm welcomes, wine, food and music. The main hall was warm and welcoming, something Sansa enjoyed ever so much but all Cregan could think about is the cold breeze of The North, the howl of wolves could be heard as the bards sang their songs and the guests drank their wine and ate their bread and salt. The twins sat at the highest level above all the other tables, their father and mother sitting beside them, Eddard sitting next to Cregan and Catelyn sitting next to Sansa, their siblings were placed at the lower levels. Robb, Bran, Rickon and the other male guests were seated to the left whereas Arya and the female guests were seated to the right.

While all of this was fine Cregan still couldn't help but feel uncomfortable, he wasn't used to being the center of attention, as much as his siblings usually tried to make him be. The guests consisted of northern lords who were closest to Winterfell and could be bothered to come. While all The North loved The Starks, all The North also wasn't really to keen on meeting Cregan. In the 'cold and desolated wasteland', which is what most of the southern realms called The North, strength is respected as much as inteligence. This would of course lead to problems with other houses who in the end were really only showing off their strength to try and intimidate their competitors. Despite that thinking however, no northener would even dare to challenge the second son of Lord Eddard Stark. Not because out of fear or respect from Cregan's name or standing, but only because they didn't want a death wish.

They didn't call him 'The Demon of The North' for nothing.

For a moment Cregan observed his surroundings, first moving his eyes to his younger sister Arya. Of course Arya also looked uncomfortable in the middle of all these high born ladies. While northern women weren't the pure definition of 'beauty and grace' they still tried to stick within their own boundries. This is one of the main reasons Cregan had a sort of respect for all The Mormont girls, especially Dacey. Sansa usually would scold Arya for any un-lady-like behaviour but in the end Cregan knew his twins scolding was really only keeping to Septa Mordane's teachings.

After Arya Cregan looked over to his older and younger brothers. Robb, Bran and Rickon were all busy doing their own things, chatting with others. Out of all of his siblings Cregan couldn't help but feel that someone was missing. It wasn't Theon, he obviously was using this oppurtunity to be as loud as he could. This only left one person missing.

As he realised that however, the warmth of the great was immediately extinguished, not to the others, but only to him. Suddenly an unnoticable cold surrounded Cregan's senses, and he could help but shiver for a second. Thankfully Cregan was already used to this feeling so he was able to hide his reaction. But whenever this would happen, it could mean only one thing.

 **'Notice someone missing?'**  
 _'Oh great... it's you'_  
 **'Who else did you think it would be?'**  
 _'Well...'_  
 **'Don't answer that'**  
 _'Alright then, so what do you want this time?'_  
 **'Nothing...'**  
 _'Oh really, nothing at all?'_  
 **'Yes, not a single thing, I just wanted to congratulate you'**  
 _'On what?'_  
 **'For living past your sixteenth nameday'**  
 _'Big deal, just another year closer to my death'_  
 **'You really can't see that better side of things can't you?'**  
 _'You've been living in my head for six years now, you yourself should know this'_  
 **'Well nevermind that now, don't you have a half-brother to find?'**  
 _'Oh, right...'_

"Father, where's Jon?" Cregan turned to his father noticing that he couldn't see his older brother with his other siblings.

"Your mother doesn't want him here" Eddard answered his son, his tone showing his own form of dissapointment at himself.

Cregan turned to his mother giving her a glare. ' _Can't you let him have this atleast'_ he thought to himself, still staring towards his mother before excusing himself from the table resulting in his sister giving him what could only be described as a death stare. Something Cregan hated to admit would always get to him.

Cregan left the main hall and took his bear fur coat wrapping it around his shoulders. Outside in the main courtyard he saw Jon bashing on his usual training dummy and Lyarra watching him with awe. "What are you two doing out here at this hour?" Cregan's voice made the two quickly turn around. Jon was covered in sweat and was only wearing his regular leather clothing while Lyarra had her own coat to keep herself warm.

"I was just showing our little guest here a few sword tricks" Jon said pointing towards Lyarra.

"No, I meant why aren't you at the feast." with that Jon's head quickly lowered trying not to show his embarrassment.

"A nameday feast isn't a place for a bastard" Jon's words made Cregan's thoughts instantly turned to his mother.

 _'I wish she can just leave him be for once'_

"No place for a bastard? All I can see is a Lord's son and his ward" Cregan's words shocked Jon.

"But i'm not-" Jon tried to protest but he was cut off by Cregan's soul-piercing eyes.  
"I'll hear none of it Jon, now let's go, you to Lyarra." Cregan put it simply.  
"M-me?" Lyarra had the same reaction as Jon when she heard Cregan call her Lord Eddard's ward.

"Yes... now come on" Cregan then started walking back towards the main hall with Jon and Lyarra close behind them.

When they entered the main hall most of the guests ignored them out of sheer drunkeness and or not caring. When Catelyn saw Jon at the feast her stare almost made the boy piss himself but her stare was emediatly meet with Cregan's eyes filled with the same deadlyness and poison that instantly calmed her down. "Jon, you go sit next to Robb, Lyarra, take a seat next to Arya" while Lyarra took her seat next to his sister Jon was still refusing to move an inch.

"Cregan I don't think this is a good idea" Jon then started to leave only to get grabbed by the arm.

"Jon... if I have to suffer through this feast I'm at least going to have my entire family here with me." he continued "Now go sit your ass down and let me take care of mother". After that Jon begrudingly sat down next to his half-brother Robb both touched and shocked by Cregan's words making him let out a small smile.

Despite how he acts, Cregan was always protective of his family and that included Jon. Robb might have been the eldest but without a doubt the most mature member of the family was Cregan, even his father would sometime act a bit childish to play with his sons and daughters.

The feast continued as drinks were handed out laughter chimed across the halls coupled with the music of bards, Cregan and Sansa are 16 years old now and in The North that means they are old enough to drink as much wine as they want but despite that the twins barely touched any wine. Sansa only had one cup of wine keeping with her mother and fathers teachings while Cregan didn't even touch wine at the feast. When all the courses and drinks were placed a servant went up to Eddard and whispered something to him.

"What is it Father?" Cregan asked, curious about the servants words.

"A Southern rider has come bearing gifts for you and your sister" his father was confused but both of them actually knew form which house this was from.  
"Let the rider in" Eddard told the servant signaling him to open the main hall doors.

With that a Southern diplomat bearing the sigil of House Tyrell, behind him four servants were carrying two chests. One resembled a luggage bag while the other looked more like a standard chest but still adorned with the customary roses that The Tyrell banner was famous for. "House Tyrell sends their regards for the two Starks children" the diplomat said while taking a low bow.

Everyone was shocked at the news, a southern house going through so much trouble just to congratulate the two twins on their nameday, Warden of The North's children or not it was very strange for someone other than House Tully to interact with the northerners. While all the guests stared at the diplomat all of The Starks might have been the only ones not to be suprised at the news.

During his early years Catelyn thought that her second son would be better of to be educated in court than to be a soldier as he was showing signs of being quite the intelectual and so she was planning to make him be her fathers ward but,suprisingly, a raven arrived requesting that Cregan be Lord Mace Tyrells ward. Catelyn was confused, this request came out of nowhere but after careful thinking and consoling it with her husband they decided to let Cregan be Mace Tyrells ward.

And so Cregan was shipped towards Highgarden becoming a ward to the second most powerfull house of at the time. There he learned Read and Write, how to ride a horse, how to wield a sword and most importantly, the ways of court and politics. During his time there he also befriended the Tyrell children, most of the time he would spar with Garlan and Loras, the warriors of the family. Garlan, who is now Ser Garlan the Gallant was not always the knight in shinning armor he is now, in his younger years he was growing up to be much more like his fat father but with a little encouragment from his brothers he became one of the most renowned knights in the realm, alongside Garlan there was his younger brother Loras, the Knight of Flowers, unlike his brother, Loras focused more on tourney fights whereas Garlan trained more for unfair and uncontrollable battles. Cregan admired the two for keeping true to what knights are supposed to be and not just being soldiers with pretty ribbons on top. When Cregan wasn't training with the sword he was training with the quil alongside the eldest Tyrell child, Willas. Willas was like his brothers once before a freak accident in a tournament causing a him to break his leg although Cregan did always respect Willas's decision not to harbour a grudge against the culprit of the accident, Oberyn 'The Red Viper' Martell. Cregan's love of hunting came from Willas who would always let him go hunt with him. And then there was Margaery, the most beautiful rose in all of Highgarden whom which Cregan had built quite the friendship with. Cregan was happy with the life he had in Highgarden although he did miss the cold breeze of The North but that all changed when IT happened...

"As a show of our respect The Tyrells have made these gifts for you two" the diplomat said snapping Cregan out of his thoughts.

The diplomat signals the servants to open the chests, first is Sansa's chest, when they opened the chest it revealed a beautiful silk dress adorned with jewels, feathers and dyed in a sapphire green color. Sansa's face told it all, at first she was shocked then that shock turned into amazement and then that amazement turned into sheer happiness.

All the girls were gawking at how beautiful the dress is, even Arya was amazed at it's beauty while all the men were either whispering or stayed completely silent.

After that it was Cregan's chest that was next but before the servants could unlock the chest he spoke up.

"Thank you, but I would much rather enjoy opening it myself after the feast" Cregan stopped the diplomat, trying to give out as big of a regal tone as he could muster.  
"As you wish my lord" the diplomat bowed and left the room along with his servants.

After the feast, Cregan carried the chest to his chambers and carefully opened it revealing what the gift was...

In the chest there were two swords, one was a longsword, one was a shortsword, just a little smaller than the first blade, as Cregan pulled the first sword out of the chest he removed it from it's scabbard to inspect the longswords hilt was wrapped in black leather with the Stark wolf carved into the pummel, the blade had a slight blue tint and was made of a strange metal Cregan couldn't recognise, the sword seemed to light up as he illuminated it in the Moonlight, the crossguard of the blade was straight and it seemed to be surrounded by vines.

After he inspected the first blade, Cregan moved over to second sword. The shortswords hilt was wrapped in light brown leather with a twisted pummel with a little jewel on top, the blade was slick, a certain warmth was radiating from the edges giving it a light red tint, the crossguard was bent and intended to be used for parrying. The blade seemed to have some runic carvings on it, from what Cregan could make of it, the carvings originated from Qarth. Sadly he couldn't make out what the carving were saying, despite him knowing the writing style.

As Cregan was inspecting the blades he noticed a letter sealed with the House Tyrell sigil in the chest. He took the note, opened it and read what was inside...

 _Cregan,_  
 _We've had these swords made for you so you can remember us whenever you train,_  
 _Know that we all still think of you as family and we wait for your next visit,_  
 _This letter may be short but still we send you our best regards,_

 _With love, The Tyrells_

 **Note:**  
 **So here is Chapter 3. Now just to answer this right now because I can already see people asking this question. Yes, the voice Cregan was talking to during the feast was an actual character and to book readers you might already know him. This isn't just a little voice in his head that Cregan talks to, later on in the story this will also be a really big plot point in Cregan's character but for now this is just a simple appearance for this character. And no, he does not have an actual name.**

 **As for the Tyrells, yes, this is yet another plot point you will see in other chapters so expect a lot of that. And by now you have probably already read the pairing for this story so you guys can probably tell what I'm going to do with the characters.**


	5. Chapter 4: Save them

**Note:**  
 **To answer some questions from the reviews Cregan did not get the name Demon of The North just for being an edgy teen, he got the name after a certain ...incident... happened, yeah let's call it that. Also if anyone is wondering how Cregan looks like I don't know what actor could potray him in real life but I pictured him looking like a younger Ben Barnes, Jackson Rathbone, Johann Urb, or Jake Abel (shoutout to akoslows for those particular suggestions).**

 **BUT ANYWAY ON WITH THE STORY...**

Chapter 4: Save them

It's been a month since Cregan and Sansa's nameday. Since then The Royal Army has gotten closer and closer to Winterfell and during that time Cregan's training schedule intensified. He was training day after day ever since he got his new swords, _'These are proving to be quite useful'_ he thought to himself as he unleashed a flurry of strikes at a training dummy, with every passing moment his speed was increasing to a point in which with every second that passed his swings multiplied by three times. After multiple strikes he took one last swing decapitating the dummy. Cregan improved his skills more in this month than he did in the last year, the blades that the Tyrells gave him were light as a feather with the only weight being in the hilt but not heavy enough to throw the blades off balance unlike the usual northern blades that were meant to be wielded with both hands or with a shield. The longsword was meant to be used for slashing and blocking while the shortsword was used for parrying and stabbing.

"Twenty-three hits in five seconds my lord, a new record" Ser Rodrick Cassel said as he walked up to Cregan while a small cheer was heard from the garrison that was observing him.

"Not good enough" Cregan said, breathing heavily, sweat dripping from his face, clearly overekserting himself but that didn't matter to him.

"But my lord-" Ser Rodrick tried to stop him but Cregan interrupted the knight mid-sentence.  
"I need to get to at least ten hits every second" Cregan then started to calm down preparing to go for another round.

"My lord, perhaps you should rest for a bit." Ser Rodrick then tried to approach Cregan, trying to pry the swords out of his hands.

"ANOTHER TRAINING DUMMY SER RODRICK, NOW!" Cregan's shout shocked Ser Rodrick forcing him to take a step back. "Y-Yes my lord, right away" Ser Rodrick said as he backed up even more, leaving Cregan by himself in the training courtyard.

 **Robb's POV**

As Cregan continued to tire himself Robb, Sansa and Lyarra watched him from the main hall balcony. While Robb himself didn't make it a habit for him to observe his younger brother whenever he was training for no other reason than he didn't want to see how much Cregan's skill is improving while Robb's skill is the same as it was five years ago. He couldn't help but feel just the tiniest bit jealous about Cregan's ability to constantly improve any one of his abilities. Robb had already reached the peak of his physical abilities and yet while he is still learning more in terms of general knowledge Robb knows that his little brother could absolutely crush were the two ever to get in another fight, even if it was just a sparring match.

"He's so fast..." Lyarra was staring at Cregan, her eyes filled with both confusment and amazement.  
"He's gotten faster" Robb's thoughts went towards the time he challenged his little brother in a duel, he could still feel the bruises of the fight.  
"Why does he look so pale?" Lyarra turned to Sansa who was leaning on the railings.  
"He's tired Lyarra..." Sansa could barely speak, her heart filled with grief to see her brother in such pain.  
"Why doesn't he just take a break then?" Lyarra's eyes turned to Robb seeing that she wasn't going to get anything from Sansa.  
"I've been asking that question for years Lyarra." Robb looked at his younger sister who refused to stop staring at her twin.  
"Sansa, it's time for your sewing lessons." he put his hand on her shoulder trying to get her off the railings.

With that Sansa got up and took a deep breath, "Lyarra, can you keep an eye on Cregan for me?".

"You can count on me." Lyarra's face lit up as a smile appeared on her face.

"Hey what about me?" Robb asked as Sansa turned to her brother with a grin.

"The last time you were left alone with Cregan we found you beaten and bruised in the dirt." both of them let out a laugh as Sansa left for her sewing lessons.

 **Cregan's POV**

Strike after strike after strike, Cregan continued to batter on the dummy, tearing it to shreds. _'I need to find a way to swing faster'_ he thought to himself, still swinging as fast as he can towards the dummy before unleashing a swing so powerfull that it cut the dummy in half. Cregan, now having even more trouble to breathe, turned towards Ser Rodrick. "Ser Rodrick... how much..." Cregan said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Twenty-seven hits in 5 seconds my lord" Ser Rodrick answered Cregan, he himself being slightly tired by just watching Cregan exhaust himself.

"Still not good enough" Cregan's face was as pale as snow, he was sweating profusely and his vision was starting to blur.

"My lord, I think it's best for you to stop for today." Ser Rodrick started to walk towards Cregan once again trying to pry the swords from his hands.

"No... I can still...-" before Cregan could finish the sentence he blacked out and landed face first into the muck.

"My lord!" as Cregan's conciousness slipped away he noticed the entirety of the Winterfell garrison running to their lords aid. More and more footsteps could be heard as Cregan's eyes became blurry, his ears started to ring and whatever breath he had left in his lungs was quickly spent until eventually, everything went dark.

 _'...Save us...'_ those two words echoed through Cregan's mind as the last part of conciousness left his mind

 **Red Skies...**  
 **Bloody River...**  
 **Screaming Children...**  
 **The Howl of Wolves...**

 _'To weak'_ Cregan thought to himself. _'I'm still to weak'_ , he felt a cold breeze that sent a chill down his spine, as he turned around he saw an army of corpses charging towards Winterfell, all of them lead by Him...

 **"The Night's King"** a voice was heard behind him causing him to turn around, there was a man in full plate armor, his shoulders were covered in white wolf fur, his helmet completely covering his face. **"You have to stop him Cregan"** the armored man aproached the hillside to join Cregan at his side.

"You think I don't know that" Cregan broke eyes from the armored man and saw Winterfell erupting in flames as screams were heard coming from that direction. "Every day I train more and more but no matter what I do I'm never strong enough" before Cregan could say any more the armored man place a hand on his shoulder.

 **"Cregan, you are a Stark, your have the blood of the first men in your veins, and you are one of the greatest fighters I have ever known, trust me, if anyone can kill him, you can."** after that, the smoke of Winterfell's fires covered all of the landscape as everyone disipated leaving Cregan alone in an empty dark abyss before finally waking up.

As Cregan opened his eyes he saw his his father, twin sister, and Lyarra beside his bed.

"Cregan!" Sansa leapt at her brother giving him a big hug as soon as she noticed he was awake.

"What's going on? Why am I here?" Cregan's father stood up from the chair he was sitting at.

"You passed out after overexhausting yourself." Cregan looked at Lyarra who was struggling to hold back her tears.

'Impressive for a five year old' he thought to himself before turning back to his father while trying to stand up.

"Stay down Cregan" his father commanded him with a stern look on his face.

"But-" Cregan tried to argue with his father but to no avail.

"No 'but' Cregan, your going to rest until The Royal Army comes to Winterfell and until they leave." Cregan was furious at the news although he did understand his fathers concern so he didn't speak up. "Gather your strength son and get some rest" Cregan sighed and after a few seconds he nodded in agreement finally laying back and closing his eyes "Come on you two, let's give him some time to rest".

 _'Soon, winter will come and when cold winds blow I will have to protect all of you'_ Cregan thought to himself before taking one last sigh and falling slowly to sleep.

 **Note:**

 **Just a little short chapter before the Royal Family comes to Winterfell and we all know what that means...**


	6. Chapter 5: The Stag King

**Chapter 5: The Stag King**

It's been a week since Cregan overexhausted himself to the point of losing his conciousness. Ever since then Cregan was forced to use a cane just to walk, his legs being to weak to withstand any more pressure, but now he has regained his strength just in time for the kings visit to Winterfell.

"The Royal army's here!" Bran said as he climbed down from the battlements, his voice filled with exitement.

With that, the entirity of the Stark household walked towards the main gates. In the front were all of the Starks, Eddard was beetwen Catelyn and his eldest, Robb, to Robb's left were his younger siblings, Cregan and Sansa, standing next to each other showing how similiar their appereances were to each other, Arya, Bran and Rickon standing with Arya being the only one sticking out of the three due to her black Stark hair. Behind them were Jon, Theon and Lyarra standing to Jon's right side.

After a few seconds of waiting The Royal Army started to enter Winterfell, when the guards started to ride into the courtyard Cregan, probably for the first time in years, was dripping with anticipation. 'Robert Baratheon, the man who took down an entire dinasty for love, the man who killed Rheagar Targaryen, the last dragon, we shall see if this man truly is all he is racked up to be' as he stopped talking to himself Cregan saw a fat man, with long black hair and a robust beard, at first, Cregan was in denial 'That's The Stag King?' he thought to himself with his face showing only disappointment but doing well to hide it.

Everyone bowed as the king dismounted and walked towards Eddard. The King twitched his fingers a bit singaling everyone to stand up, after a few moments of silence the king spoke "You've gotten fat" he looked at Eddards stomach as Cregan's father retorted.

"You can say the same for yourself" the two then broke out into laughter and gave each other a whole-hearted hug. The King then walked to Catelyn and gave her the same hug "It's been a long time Cat".

"To long your grace" she courtsied him with a soft voice and a smile.

After that the king approached each of Lord Starks children. First he approached Robb, reaching out his hand meeting Robb's giving him a handshake "That's a firm handshake you have, your gonna be a good lord one day lad" his words resulted in Robb giving out a small smile. When he walked over to Cregan he was staring at his muscles before meeting eyes with him "You seem to know how to handle yourself son" he continued "Ever thought of joining my Kingsguard". Everyone stared at Cregan in shock as faint whispers were heard all the way from the back of the line. Despite all of Winterfell noticably widening their eyes, Cregan didn't even flinch. Instead he only responded in a monotone voice.

"Kingsguards for knights... I'm not a knight."

Cregan's response made the king burst out into laughter before turning to Eddard "Oh I like this one Ned". He then gave him a pat on the back before going to his sister Sansa "Well aren't you a beauty" his words made Sansa smile a bit resulting in her taking a small courtsey. The king then walked towards the remaining Stark children giving each one of them his form of a greeting.

After that he turned back to Cregan's father "Ned, take me to your Crypts, I want to pay my respects" as he was saying that, The Queen, started to speak. "We have been traveling for months my love, surely the dead can wait" but the king just waved her off and started to walk with Ned to the Winterfell crypts as everyone started to disperse.

 **A few hours later...**

The morning passed into the afternoon and Cregan was training in the courtyard using every ounce of restraint he had not to strain himself too much as he was still recovering from his last session. 'Thirteen hits in five seconds' he thought to himself not even looking tired after hours of training 'I need to go faster if i'm ever to get better'. He then heard footsteps making him spin around only to see the one and only Ser Barristan "The Bold" Selmy.

"Forgive me my lord did I startle you?" Ser Barristan walked towards Cregan with one hand on his swords pummel.

"Not at all Ser Barristan, what brings you here?" Cregan's words made a small smile appear on Barristans face.

"I heard about the young Stark who no one could best" he continued "I wanted to see if the man lived up to the stories" Barristan then looked towards Cregan's swords.

"I see the stories don't do you justice my lord" Cregan then sighed and looked towards the ground.

"You should have seen me a week ago" after a moment of silence Cregan turned his head towards Ser Barristan.

"Ser Barristan, would you like to spar for a bit?" his request took the old knight a little by suprise as no one has ever asked him this question besides Jaime Lannister a couple of times.

His face went from suprise to curiousness "Very well then my lord, then how should we do this, practise swords or live-steel?"

"Live-steel" Cregan instantly replied after Ser Barristan had asked that question, which once again took Ser Barristan off his guard.

Stark, Lannister and Baratheon guards were starting to crowd around the courtyard, all of them starting to place bet's on either Cregan or Ser Barristan although more of them did place bets on Ser Barristan.

"Are there any rules for this fight my lord?" Ser Barristan asked Cregan as he took a stance.

"Just one..." Cregan's eyes then became ice-cold "...No holding back" "

Very well then my lord..." Ser Barristan closed his eyes for a second before opening them once more.

"...Let's dance"

Cregan suddenly burst into a sprint with Ser Barristan taking a defensive stance, as the first blow was struck cheers were heard from the crowd. Cregan unleashed a flurry of attacks, at first he was only taking quick stabs with his shortsword trying to find any cracks in his defense occasionally swinging his longsword in a attempt to throw the old knight of balance, while Cregan was putting all his energy in offense Ser Barristan was blocking and dodging his attacks with ease, after twenty-three seconds of pure defense Ser Barristan saw an opening as Cregan took a swing following the same strategy, he dodged the blade and in a blink of an eye took a swing with his own longsword with Cregan barely dodging it and taking a step back. Ser Barristan was getting tired, although he did not want to admit it those twenty-three seconds were exhausting, "Crownland steel..." Cregan was not even tired but he did take a deep breath to regain his stance while lifting his blades once again "... they say it's the closest thing to Valyrian steel you can get in Westeros" he looked towards Ser Barristans sword as the old knight responded.

"I see your speed was not exagerrated my lord" Ser Barristan regained his stance with sweat dripping from his face, his response resulting in Cregan glaring at him.

"I'm not done yet Ser Barristan" Cregan once again burst into a sprint but this time with twice the speed.

His attacks multiplied with each passing second, Ser Barristan at first could continue his tactic of dodging and blocking but after ten seconds his swings and stabs were to much to handle resulting in him taking a swing disrupting Cregan's flurry of strikes, now it was his turn. Ser Barristan began his attack with a combination of swings and stabs like Cregan but only using his one longsword. Every stab had pinpoint accuracy and every swing had extreme speed, although he was struggling Cregan could dodge his attacks but only barely. 'He's fast' Cregan thought to himself while still dodging his attacks 'If I don't end this now he'll get a strike on me' at that moment Ser Barristan took one last swing at Cregan's head but in less than a second he ducked, attached the hilt of his shortsword to Ser Barristan's leg and pulled it out from under him, resulting in Ser Barristan falling to the ground.

The Stark guardsmen roared up in a cheer for Cregan while both the Lannister and the Baratheon guardsmen were looking in shock.

"Well done Ser Barristan" Cregan reached out his hand to pick the old knight from the ground.

"That was the best fight I've had in years my lord" Barristan let out a small chuckle while wiping the dirt from his white cloak.

"Two minutes and forty-six seconds" Cregan's words made Barristan raise his eyebrow.

"Congratulation's Ser Barristan, that's the longest anyone has ever lasted against me" Cregan took a small bow and left for the main hall leaving the knight in his thoughts.

As he entered the main hall he saw his sister Sansa and older brother Robb looking at him with devious grins. "What are you two staring at?" he asked his siblings while fetching himself some water. In truth Cregan already knew what those looks meaned, they were planning on doing something 'mischievous'.

"Oh nothing..." Sansa commented, still smiling at him.

"What?" Cregan became annoyed at his siblings now looking at them with cold eyes.

"Are you kidding?" Robb joined in the conversation "We saw you in the courtyard now" Cregan's eyes widened a bit.

"You saw that?" his sister stood up from the chair she was sitting on.

"Cregan half of Winterfell saw you" Sansa joked.

"They did?" Cregan was suprised by the news, he was so focused on the battle that he didn't even notice who was watching them.

"You should have seen the looks the Royal Family was giving you" Robb continued "I don't think they blinked through the entire fight".

The two continued to praise him until Robb was called by Ser Rodrick for his sparring session leaving Sansa and Cregan alone in the room. Sansa spoke up to break the silence "You've gotten quite the reputation out in the South I take it?" Cregan's eyes immediately turned to the ground.

"If you can call it that..." Cregan said, his tone was nothing but a faint whisper as his eyes were still focused on the ground.

"What do you mean?" Sansa was confused by her brothers words.

Those three words shook Cregan to the bone. Of course she knew about the incident in The Reach, of course she knew about everything he had done in The Reach, and yet she could still look at him with that genuinely suprised look. It wasn't that Cregan couldn't take that, it just annoyed him. Even when he tried it, Cregan couldn't help but show the hesitation to speak about his own situation in The South.

"Cregan-" Sansa tried to speak up again but to no avail.

"Stop... please... just, let's not talk about it."

 **Note:**  
 **Well there you have it people, Chapter 5. As always I hope you are enjoying the story as well I hope you enjoyed the fight scene beetwen Barristan and Cregan. I tried to show how baddass both of them were especially giving Ser Barristan some time to shine because in all honesty I think the show didn't do him enough justice showing how awesome he really was even with that last blaze of glory in season 5.**

 **There wasn't much to rewrite here just some formatting for the dialogue so yeah. The only 'big thing' that I changed was at the end with the conversation between Cregan and Sansa. I did this on purpose for spesific reasons that will happen later on in the story, so please just don't keep talking about how 'It's not realistic'.**


	7. Chapter 6: The Demon's Rose

**Chapter 6: The Demon's Rose**

 **6 years ago...**

The breeze was suprisingly warm, footsteps were heard rusling through the Summer leaves as the hooves of horses marched through the forest.

"Come on Cregan!" the childish voice of a girl was heard as the boy followed her.

"Wait up" Cregan struggled to follow the girl as her horse was much faster.  
"Margaery, wait up!" he tried to call the girl back as she escaped his sight leaving him alone.

As Margaery continued to gallop through the forest, her long brown hair was flowing as much as the air could make it. She continued to ride through the trees before noticing some strange figure in the distance, "Cregan?" she whispered not sure on who it was, she slowly approached the area where she saw the figure being carefull not to get to close. Suddenly, before she could even react, a spike was lodged in her horses skull sending her flying and hitting her head, her vision became blurry as she could fell blood dripping from her forehead.

"What do we have here?" a man in brown leather approached Margaery who was still struggling to get up.

"She's a pretty one now is she?" another man wearing the same uniform spoke.

"Wha-Where-Who are you" Margaery could barely speak much less stand, her vision was still blurry making it hard for her to see their faces.

"Oh don't worry we're gonna take good care of you dear." as he said that Margaery could see the man reaching his arm.  
"Wait what ar-" Margaery felt a hand seeping down her dress as maniacel laughs were heard around her.

"No... stop..." she tried to shove the man away from her as well as kicking him in the groin but it only made the man laugh.

"We've got a fighter here" he started unbotening his pants, Margaery became desperate, her face mixed with blood and tears as the man ripped away her dress.

She couldn't do anything, the more she screamed and struggled the more pain she was in, she closed her eyes as her tears were flowing down her cheeks, she expected to be dead but suddenly, everything stopped. No more laughing, no more pain, all she could fell is blood dripping on her face.

"HOLY SHIT!" one of the men screamed out, Margaery opened her eyes revealing the man who was on her with an arrow in his skull.

"YOU LITTLE SHIT" she heard another man speak but she couldn't see anything with her vision still being blurry. "Get away from her" Margaery heard a voice that was barely above a whisper but she recognised it.

 _'Cregan'_ she thought while cradling herself in a fetal position desperately trying to cover herself.

She heard screams of rage as the bandits attacked Cregan swinging their axes and maces. Cregan spun around slicing the necks of the bandits, he grabbed one of the axes and plunged it into another man's skull. His dagger was lodged into one of the bandits throat before pulling it out and continued to carve his way through the bandits to Margaery. As she regained her vision she saw Cregan holding both an axe and a dagger in a field of bloodied and mutilated corpses, some of them were missing heads, some of them were missing limbs, some of them were straight out cut in half, in the middle of the field was Cregan completely covered in blood still fighting the remainder of the men. His face was stone-cold not potraying any emotions at all. As more men fell to his blade Margaery was still in shock and refused to move an inch, Cregan lodged an axe into the last mans stomach before cutting off every single limb he had and finnally decapitating him.

Cregan was exhausted, his entire body covered with blood, the sight itself was enough to horrify even the bravest of men, but the thing that shocked Margaery most of all was the expression on Cregan's face. Nothing about his expression was human, his skin and face were completely dripping with blood as well as the top half of his clothes being a marbled red color. However, Cregan's eyes were the only things Margaery could focus on, a blood red tint in his eyes shined as Cregan's pupils shined with a special glow that Margaery could only think of as the look of a monster.

He instantly snapped from his thoughts when he looked at Margaery and ran towards her, when he tried to place his hand on her shoulder Margaery screamed and instantly tried to shove him away "Margaery, MARGAERY!, It's me Cregan" Margaery opened her eyes to see Cregan standing over her, she jumped towards him and gave him a hug.

"They- They- tried to..." tears were running profusely down her cheeks as she tried to explain.

"Shh it's okay... it's okay I'm here for you". He wrapped his cloak around Margaery to conceal her half-naked body.

Margaery was crying on his shoulder as Cregan was desperately trying to console her. There was nothing else that she could think of doing at this moment but right now Margaery couldn't help but feel safe in Cregan's arms. "It's alright..." Cregan kept repeating those words to her as all Margaery did was continue to shed tears.

"Seven hells!" a voice was heard coming from some direction, It was Willas, Garlan and Loras accompanied by some twenty Tyrell guardsmen, at first they were paying attention to the bloodied corpses until noticing the two children sitting in the middle. They were all being followed up by Tyrell soldiers who seemed to have the same expression as the main Tyrell children.

"CREGAN, MARGAERY!" Garlan shouted before dismounting his horse and running towards his sister with his brothers following suit.

"What happened here?" Loras asked the two children but none of them answered.

After a few moments of silence Cregan finally spoke up with Margaery still crying on his shoulder. "Loras I'll explain everything but right now we need to get Margaery to the Maester" with that they all agreed and decided to leave emediatly without asking any questions but when one of the guards tried to take Margaery's hand she emediatly screamed out in terror and ran back to Cregan. "It's okay Margaery you can ride with me" he tried to calm the poor girl down.

On the way back to Highgarden Cregan explained everything to Margaery's brothers but when they asked him what happened to the bandits he said nothing and looked forward, although they didn't want to believe it, they had to assume that Cregan was the one that slaughtered them.

Back in Highgarden everyone was shocked to hear the news. Margaery's grandmother, Ollena 'The queen of Thorns' Tyrell, was furious, demanding to know who the culprits were but when she found out that Cregan slaughtered every single one of them. "Margaery, oh sweetie are you alright?" Ollena barged into the room screaming, her voice filled with concern.

"She's fine my lady, besides a hit to the head nothing seems to be damaged." the maester tried to calm the woman down as he continued "Although I suspect that wouldn't be the case were it not for our little wolfs brave actions." he pointed towards Cregan who was laying on the bed by Margaery's side still trying to comfort her.

Ollena's face turned from fear to relief as she saw her grandaughter peacefully asleep, her wounds were bandaged and she was given a new dress. "Cregan, tell me the truth, what happened to my Margaery?" she looked directly into his eyes to see if his words were going to be lies.

"We were riding through the forests, but she rode to fast and left without me, bandits attacked her and almost raped her..." Cregan spoke in a completely drowned and monotone voice.

"What happened Cregan?" Ollena made him get to the point.

"Before they could rape her... I killed them" her eyes widened, shocked at the news that a ten year old boy could kill off around fifty men from what the reports said.

"Lady Ollena I think Margaery needs some rest." the maester snapped her from her thoughts.

"Very well then, come Cregan we should-" before Ollena could finish talking she was interrupted by Margaery.

"NO!" before she could finish her sentence Margaery screamed out and squezed Cregan's arm making him stop getting up "Cregan, please stay" she whimpered to him begging him to stay by her side. Those were the first words she spoke since she entered Highgarden, during that time she didn't leave Cregan's side not once.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere" Cregan's voice was soft trying to console the scared girl. Ollena knew that she couldn't pry Cregan from Margaery so she quietly left the room as the two slowly fell asleep.

In the following weeks they learned that the bandits that attacked Margaery were actually Tarly men who were off watch and mistook her for some random peasant girl. When Randell Tarly came asking for justice Lady Ollena spoke no words she only pointed towards Margaery who was refusing to go anywhere without Cregan, still in shock. Randell's shouts turned silent immediately after seeing the poor girl, but then he saw Cregan.

"So you're the one that killed my men" Cregan's eyes were like daggers matching Randell's.

"Aye, I am." his tone was menacing as if to almost intimidate the lord.

"Are you going to take responsibility for your actions, boy?" Randyll asked him in a menacing tone.  
"As far as I see it, your men are the only ones that commited any crimes" Cregan responded.

Cregan looked towards Margaery who didn't even speak up, refusing to make eye contact with Lord Tarly. "I will forgive the actions of your men this time Lord Tarly, but know this..." his eyes narrowed to focus on him and just him "If I see you or your men touch Margaery ever again, I will, destroy you and your entire fucking family". Although he did not want to admit it, Lord Tarly was extremely intimidated by the boys words but before he could embarass himself even more he stormed out the main hall.

If he could not get his "justice" he will get his own form of revenge.

Soon word spread throughout the entirity of the South about the young Stark boy that viciously slaughtered fifty Tarly men. A demon who maimes and cripples anyone in his path, a killer without mercy, the bane of the South. With wolf-like eyes and and the horns of a demon.

And so he was named The Demon of The North.

 **Note:**

 **Alright so not much rewriting here, just some formatting and the only real big thing I added was writting Cregan's expression and how he looked at the end of the battle. HOWEVER, there is something else that I need to adress:**

 **Now for most people this is the turning point (barring like chapter 32 or something like that) in this story. The main reason for it being that this is the first time I show off how ridiculously overpowered Cregan is and well I guess that doesn't just fit well with some people who want a super realistic story about characters who live in a world with giants, dragons, blood magic, magical swords, THE CLOSEST THING TO A GODDAMN MEDIEVAL LIGHTSABER YOU ARE GOING TO GET, ice zombies and giant ice spiders.**

 **BUT, before anyone can just go and leave a review saying how "Oh how the fuck can a 10 year old kill like 50 armed soldiers?" now your argument is invalid because I have explained the whole reason in the story so I can immediately shut you down BITCH!**

 **Oh and I guess I could also use the argument that it's my goddamn story and I'll do whatever the fuck I want with it but you know... eh?**


	8. Chapter 7: The Hunt

**Chapter 7: The Hunt**

"More wine!" the fat man shouted at his squire.

"Your Grace, are you sure you should be drinking so much while out on a hunt" Ser Barristan was struggling to move around in the wild while in his Kingsguards armor.

"He's right Robert, you shouldn't be face-deep in wine if we run into a bear" Eddard agreed with the old knight

"You two need to light up a bit" The Kings voice was filled with annoyance

As the three continued, Cregan was always ten steps ahead of them with Sif by his side, bored out of his mind. Sif whimpered to Cregan clearly sharing his boredom, "I know boy, but we can't leave without them" unlike them, Cregan's attire was specially designed for hunts, light but stil providing resistance against the elements and protection from bites and scratches from wild animals. ' _If it was just me and Sif we would already be back by now'_ he thought to himself while traversing the foliage with fallen leaves covering the ground.

"Cregan do you see anything?!" his father asked him while keeping the same pace with everybody else. Cregan then immediately crouched, turned his head and signaled all of them to shut up and get down.

When they got to the small hill that Cregan was crouching on they saw 12 men sitting near a pregnant wolf caught in a hunting trap. "Poachers, I fucking hate poachers" Cregan whispered, his eyes narrowing towards the men who were laughing and mocking the wolf resulting in Sif letting out a quiet growl.

"We should just run at em and crush'em" the king said while raising his warhammer.

"No" Cregan said only one word as everyone turned their head toward him, "Your all just going to get in my way, stay here, me and Sif are going to take them out ourselves" his words made everyone widen their eyes but before anyone could say a thing he jumped from the small hill with Sif following his master.

"Has he gone insane? The boy's gonna get himself killed" Robert spoke up in the confusion but before he could do anything he was stopped by Eddard.

"Leave him Robert, trust me, he knows what he's doing." Eddard tried to reassure his friend.

In truth, Cregan was experienced in this form of hunting, ever since he returned to Winterfell he's been going on hunts not just to hunt animals but to clear the areas around Winterfell, Bandits, Poachers and Highwaymen who were infesting the roads and wilds of the area. In doing this he earned the respect of his father and older siblings along with the support of the smallfolk and villages but doing this also made him more infamous as a killer and more people calling him by the name he dreaded "Demon of The North".

Cregan sprinted through the trees leaving no trace and letting out no sound. He quickly climbed the top of a chopped down tree that was leaning of another hill giving some leverage over the poachers. He grabbed his black, ironwood bow and let out three arrows from his quiver at once, attaching his arrows on string, he aimed towards the first three poachers that were grouped up together, aiming each arrow carrefully towards each one of them. He looked towards his direwolf "Sif..." his wolf looked towards him "...Howl" with that Sif let out an ear grading howl, causing each one of the poachers turning their heads toward them. Cregan shoot his arrows, each one flying towards one of the poachers skulls. "Now sick'em" Cregan tapped the wolf by his fur making him charge towards the poachers, Sif jumped at one of the poachers, ripping out his throat before continuing on.

"Seven hells" Roberts eyes widened as he was watching the action, "Well what are we waiting for, let's help him" Robert jumped out of hiding, wielding his warhammer in both hands with Eddard and Ser Barristan following suit.

The poachers quickly fell to the five of them, leaving them alone to take a breath. "That was bloody brilliant timing there boy" Robert told Cregan, breathing heavily while sitting down a rock. Cregan ignored the three and moved closer to the captured wolf. When he took a step closer the wolf started to growl at him but Cregan only slowed down but still continued to walk towards her. He placed his hand and slowly carresed the wolf trying to calm it down. After a few moments he took his hand of the wolf's fur and placed in on the trap both disarming it and freeing the wolf.

As the wolf ran off Cregan's father approached him, "She wont last long with that leg" he remarked her wounded leg as she limped off into the wild.

"The trap was poorly designed..." Cregan continued "The trap didn't cut to deep into the wound".

"For now we shou- AGH" before he could finish his sentence an arrow was lodged into his shoulder.

"CREGAN" his father shouted out before turning to see around twenty men in front of them.

The four quickly readied for combat as Cregan pulled the arrow out from his shoulder. "I... Fucking... Hate... Poachers..."

 **Sansa's POV**

As Sansa's sewing lessons ended and she went outside she saw Arya, Bran, Rickon and Lyarra playing in the courtyard.

 _'Four months and she's already part of the family'_ Sansa thought to herself while looking at the girl who was laughing and running as if she was with her own siblings. The sight of her younger siblings having so much fun made her smile. As she turned around she saw her mother looking at her children with the same kind of smile.

Sansa was walking towards her when her mother spoke "She looks so happy" her eyes were fixed on Lyarra before turning to Sansa. "You were the same at her age" her comment made the two giggle a bit. "I was?" Sansa couldn't remember much of her early years besides Cregan's usual visits from Highgarden.

"Before you became a proper lady you were always running around Winterfell with Cregan and Robb" Catelyn's smile became larger as she continued her story "We would always find you with the two covered in dirt. It would always take us hours to get you out of your dress". As the two reminised about old times Maester Luwin interrupted them.

"My lady, the feast needs to be attended to." Luwin said in his usual elderly and respectful voice.

"Of course maester, Sansa please watch over them for a little while longer darling" Sansa nodded as her mother and the maester left.

Since Lyarra came to Winterfell she has been shown nothing but warm welcomes and kindness. And she has returned that kindness tenfold. She is learning to read and write with Rickon, she plays with Arya and Bran, she sings with Sansa and helps Robb carry his sparring gear, even Cregan has warmed up to her, but of all the Starks the one she has bonded with the most is Jon, whenever she has free time she would be around him, always talking to him but no one knows what about, she would provide him company whenever he was forced to stay away from the hall which has become more often these last weeks due to The Royal Family being in Winterfell. Sansa never bonded with Jon like her other siblings, a lady shouldn't be found around a bastard. As she continued to watch the kids play a guardsmen was heard shouting from the walls.

"OPEN THE GATES, OPEN THE GATES!"

When the gates finnaly opened Sansa saw her father, the king, Ser Barristan and an unconcious Cregan ridding on a cart, severely wounded. She immediately ran up to her father after seeing her brother hurt "Father, what happened to Cregan?" she began to panick as she saw more and more of his wounds.

"No time Sansa, you need to get the Maester" Eddard dismounted his horse, his voice still being calm.

"Bu-" Sansa tried to protest to stay with her currently wounded brother but her father cut her off.

"No but's Sansa, now go get the Maester."


	9. Chapter 8: Blood of The First Men

**Chapter 8: Blood of The First Men**

Red Skies...  
Bloody River...  
Screaming Children...  
The howl of wolves...

"Here again?" Cregan says, covered in blood, all he can see is a field of decapitaded heads of Wolves and Lions

When Cregan turns around he sees a bloodied soldier with his back turned to him

"You, where am I, why am I here?" his voice stopped being meeke and began to be louder and more aouthorotive

"ANSWER ME DAMMIT!" he screamed as confusion turned into rage

With that, the bloodied soldier turned around revealing him to be... Cregan, his eyes bloodshot and one of his arms appears to be almost ripped off, arrows lodged into his back and his ears have been cut off, on his face was a permanent smile that would cut fear into even the bravest men

"You..." Cregan says, his voice starting to stutter

"Why... why won't you just leave me alone..." his voice was beggining to turn into only a whisper

Suddenly Cregan's bloody corpse bursted into a sprint and started charging at him

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" it's maniacle scream pierced his ears like needles

"Stay back..."  
"STAY BACK YOU BASTARD!" his whisper turned into a war cry as he readied his swords

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" the corpse not even slowing down, but speeding up, kept charging at him and rip's of a dagger that was lodged in his thigh

"FINE THEN YOU WANT TO FIGHT THEN COME ON" whatever fear he had a couple seconds ago was turned into shear burning rage

The corpse jumped into the air, still laughing while mid-air his arm comes flying of but even with that he doesn't stop

"COME AT ME" despite on how strong he was Cregan was no match for the corpse and he knew that...

In only a couple of seconds he gets overpowered by the corpse as it pushes him onto the ground and without mercy starts stabbing him in the chest. Every stab felt like a million tiny blades slowly cutting away at him as the only thing he hears is the horrifying laugh of his corpse

 **HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...**

"AGH!" Cregan jumped from the bed, he was breathing heavily and sweat was dripping from his forehead, his eyes were wide open as he was quickly looking around his room. Sif, who was lying on his own small little bed, quickly went to his masters side, but Cregan noticed something, Sif was missing his left eye. Clearly a wound from their last hunt. He petted his wolf to calm him down while also calming himself down.

'It happened again' he thought to himself after Sif got down from his bed.  
'I lost to him again' a single tear went down his cheek as he felt a sudden pain in his head

Suddenly his nose started to bleed, Cregan could feel himself getting dizzy.

"So now even when i'm awake your still trying to kill me" his skin was extremely pale, more than the usual northern men's skin. As he keeps looking at the blood slowly dripping from his fingers he became so weak that he couldn't even keep his body straight, he felt his conciousness slowly slipping away as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

The Next Morning...

It was early in the morning, Cregan got up from his bed and put his clothes on, being careful not to tamper with his bandages for his wounds from the hunt. As he was buttoning his leather jerkin a knock came from his chamber doors."Come in" the door opened as Lyarra entered the room carrying a loaf of bread and a jug of water along with a pice of meat for Sif. "Your awake" her face light up a bit as she saw him. "Why would you knock if you didn't know I was awake?" she gave him a small smile as she placed the food on the nearby table "It's a bad habit". "Oh, by the way, your father wanted me to tell you that you go to the main hall when you wake up" she threw the piece of meat to Sif with him catching it mid-air. "Don't worry ill be there in a minute" Cregan noticed Lyarra's eyes widen as she started to stare at him, "What's wrong?" she continued to stare at him for a few more seconds before finnaly speaking "Cregan... your nose" she pointed at his face noticing that he was starting to bleed from nose. 'Shit' he thought to himself as he started to wipe the blood of his nose. "It's nothing, i'm fine" "Are you sure?" Lyarra's voice was filled with concern, "I'm fine Lyarra" he nudged her a bit to make her leave the room "Oh... okay, then". 'I need to be more careful' as he was putting on the last of his clothes he washed his face a bit to stop the bleeding.

After eating his food he made his way to the main hall where his father was sitting alone. "Cregan, it's good to see you awake my boy" Eddard gave his son a hug with a smile on his face before his face turned serious. "Come lad, sit" the two seated on their chairs "What is this about father?". Eddard sighed before continuing "The king has offered me the position as hand of the king" Cregans eyes widened at his fathers words. "So does that mean...", "Yes, we will set out for King's Landing tommorow" Eddard's words drew Cregan's curiosity "We?", "Yes, we, you will be riding with me along with Sansa and Arya". Cregan was confused at the statement, what good could he be in the capital? "Your trained in politics Cregan, and I need people I can trust there" his fathers eyes were pinned directly on him, pressuring him into a response. Cregan then stood up from his chair "Alright, I'll go father". A smile came to his fathers face, it was good knowing that the only Stark actually trained in politics will be going with him to the most dangerous city in Westeros.

"Very well then... we leave at dawn"

Note:

This was just a short chapter to transition from Winterfell to King's Landing. The next chapter will be longer I promise.

As always I hope you all enjoyed, thank you to all the people who review,favorite and follow this story and I will see you all next time.


	10. Chapter 9: The Road to the Capital 1

Note:  
If anyone is asking themselves, No, Bran did not fall out of the tower and cripple his legs in this story. Just wanted to settle that, now...

ON WITH THE CHAPTER...

 **Chapter 9: The Road to The Capital part 1**

Eleven years ago, Cregan was shipped off to the southern capital of The Reach, he left his family behind, his father and older brother, his mother, his twin Sansa and his baby sister Arya. Today he's once again leaving his home and going off to the most dangerous city in all of The Seven Kingdoms.

"Goodbye, my darlings" Catelyn was hugging her daughters before reluctantly letting go and turned towards Cregan.  
"Cregan, protect Sansa and Arya, please" her hand was placed on his cheek, her voice soft and welcoming

"I will mother, I promise"

As he said that, Robb, Bran and Rickon stood forward. "Cregan", "Robb", Robb had a small grin on his face trying to mask his reluctancy to let his younger siblings go. "Be safe, brother" they shook hands and as they let go Cregan opened his satchel and pulled out three small carvings of The Stark direwolf. "Here, I spent all night carving these out for you three", he handed each one of them to his brothers. Robb's face was filled with shock, this is the first time in years Cregan has given any form of emotion to him or his brothers. "You carved this?" Bran and Rickon were awed at the carvings, their faces showing signs of joy and happines. "Now I suggest you give your last goodbyes to Jon, this might be the last time we see him" he nodded toward Jon who was busy saddling his horse. "Aye, guess I should" Robb went towards his borther and said his goodbyes.

When The Royal Escort started leaving Cregan took one last look at his home, he knew this could be the last time he would see Winterfell.

The sound of hooves was heard as they rode further and further away from the busy courtyards of Winterfell and the silence of the wild took over. It was a silence Cregan was all to familiar with, only this time he was sorrounded by other people and not just accompanied by Sif. As he rode towards the front of the escort he saw his father and Jon on the crossroads beetwen the Wall and further South. They rode their separate ways after exchanging words, "Jon" Jon stopped his horse and turned his head towards Cregan "Are you sure you want to do this?", "Aye, you know I never could have been a part of your family, Cregan, besides, black was always my colour" Jon smiled a bit trying to hide the disapointment in his words. Cregan reached out in his satchel to pull out a fourth Stark direwolf carving and gave it to him "You may not have the name, but you will always be my brother Jon" despite his face and tone being emotionless Jon knew his words were sincere causing him to smile "If you ever reconsider, know that you are welcome in Winterfell". As Jon grabbed the carving he noticed the white and red colors resembling his direwolf Ghost. "Thank you Cregan..." he took one last look at the Royal Escort traveling to Kings Landing before taking a deep breath "... Say goodbye to Lyarra for me", "I will" the two brothers then rode their separate ways and Jon looked at the carving one last time before putting it in his pocket.

A few weeks later...

Red skies...  
Bloody river...  
Screaming children...  
The howl of wolves...

Cregan was standing amidst a field of dead,burnt,mutilated and drowned children hovewer he was holding one child with a strange mist covering his the boys legs imploded and made Cregan even more bloodied than he was, the mist flew away like feathers from the boys face revealing who he is...

"...Bran..." Cregan recognised his brother emediately

After he says that the mist shifts into Cregan's corpse but now even more decayed and covered in claw marks. It's teeth now showing with the same smile he had last time.

"What are you trying to tell me?" he asked, his voice filled with confusion turned fear that quickly turned into rage

The corpse's smile became even wider as he finnaly opens his mouth with only two words coming out of him **"YOUR FAULT"** after that the corpse lifts a bloodied battleaxe and chops it into his skull.

"CREGAN, CREGAN WAKE UP!" a female voice echoed through his head

"What, what is it, what's happening!" Cregan quickly woke up seeing his little sister Arya in shock

"You were screaming..."  
"What?"  
"In your sleep, you were screaming in your sleep" Arya moved away a bit to let him get up from his bed

"Cregan, what's happening to you?" Arya's voice was filled with grief to see her brother in such pain. "It's nothing Arya, just a nightmare", "That's not what I mean and you know it" Cregan tried to hide his distress but right now he was to weak to put on his emotionless mask, "Cregan you've been getting worse ever since we left Winterfell", Cregan let out a quiet laugh resulting in Arya raising her eyebrows in confusion, suprised by his reaction. "Nothing gets past you does it", "What?". "Don't worry Arya, i'm fine" he placed his hand on her shoulder with a smile on his face, something Arya never thought she would see. "Promise?" her skepticy was justified as she would often find him in the morning pale and struggling just to stand up straight. "On my honor as a Stark" he place his hand where his heart should be and looked at her with a soft smile. "Alright, I guess I'll see you later then" she then turned towards the door and procceded to leave the room with her direwolf Nymeria following suit.

As Arya left the room Cregan's smile dissapeared, after a few moments of silence he felt a small tug on his left leg. "What are you looking at?" he asked his wolf who was watching him almost in dissapointment "What, what was I supposed to tell her, that I'm getting weaker by the day?" Sif continued to stare at him, making Cregan sigh and go back to his usual emotionless expression.

'They can't know, they must never know' he thought to himself while putting on his clothes

'This is going to be a long trip'


	11. Chapter 10: The Stag's Fall

**Chapter 10: The Stag's Fall**

It was early morning, soldiers were still getting on their gear as Cregan got out into the courtyard. They've been traveling for a month now, they were getting closer and closer to the capital but for the next few days they will be stationed at Lord Darry's keep. Something The King was obviously thrilled about because that meant a feast will be coming.

"Come on, Sif, were going hunting" Cregan grabbed his black ironwood bow and strapped on his swords to his back while Sif was barking happily at his master. "We're going to see if that one good eye can still helps us get good game" he patted his wolfs head as the two left their chambers and went to the stables.

On the way he saw both Lannister and Baratheon guardsmen drinking and singing together while the Stark household guard kept to themselves. Before he could reach the stables he saw his little sister Arya and Lyarra running past him but before they could do that he caught both of them "Where are you two going?" he lifted both of them into the air stopping them dead in their tracks. "Were going to meet with Mycah in the Ruby Ford" Arya's eyes were gleeming with exitement "Mycah?", "The butchers boy" Lyarra, who was able to hide her exitement better was still trying to get her feet back on the ground. "Alright, but don't get into any trouble" he dropped the girls as they ran off. He heard a whimper from his direwolf as he saw him tugging on his leg "Don't worry, Mycah's a good kid, there gonna be safe with him" he tapped his wolf on the head once again calming him down. "Now let's go, I want us to get out of here as soon as possible".

Eddard's POV

"... And then the boy ripped off the arrow from his shoulder and started to cleave his way through the rest of the fuckers" Eddard was listening to the story of their hunt near Winterfell for what seemed to be the hundreth time, Robert had a whore on his lap and a flask of wine in his hand as he was talking about the battle, sorrounded by dozens of men. "You should've seen him, the boy was as fast as a phantom and was taking out the arrows mid-air". 'Gods, must he overembelish this story every time he tells it' Eddard thought to himself while taking a sip of wine.

The story continued for hours, as it finished and everyone left the room leaving only Eddard and Robert.

"Ned...", "NED!" the king snapped him from his thoughts with a roar. "What's with you, you've got that look again?" Robert was still drinking his flask of wine while Eddard was only staring at his half-empty cup. "Why do you overembelish this story Robert", "Oh come on Ned, what's wrong with giving the boy some fame, who knows, maybe he'll meet a nice girl that way" Robert let out a small chuckle but Eddard's face was still stern. "You haven't known him as long as I have Robert, he doesn't want that" Eddard finnaly drank some more wine while Robert started to sigh. "My age is catching up to me Ned", Eddard looked to him with confusion in his eyes, "I don't know, maybe it's just my way to thank him for saving my worthless ass"

 **Flashback**

"I... Fucking... Hate... Poachers"  
Twenty armed men started to swarm them with swords, axes, maces, bows, crossbows and wooden shields. Eddard lifted his sword to prepare for combat as Robert did the same with his warhammer. Ser Barristan got into a defensive stance preparing for the onslaught of marauders. Eddard turned to his son who had his hand on the wounded shoulder where the arrow struck "Cregan, RUN!", Cregan's face was blank, after a few moments of silence he finnaly spoke

"No..."

With one word all of their eyes widened as Cregan took both of his swords in each hand and burst into a sprint, jumping past Barristan, Eddard and Robert before taking down the first man. "SEVEN HELLS!" one of the poachers screamed out while looking at the corpse of one his comrades that Cregan had beheaded in the blink of an eye. "Who's next?" Cregan was potraying no emotions while half of his face was covered in the blood of the fallen bandit, when he looked towards the poachers it seemed like most of them had already shit themselves. "Archers!" the person who appeared to be the leader of the group screamed out to reveal rows men armed with bows and crossbows. Each one of them shot an arrow at Cregan, he was both hitting and dodging the arrows but some of them connected, an arrow was lodged in his leg, thigh and right shoulder but that didn't stop him. No matter what they threw at him Cregan got out of it with either sheere strength or cunning speed, cutting down one bandit as each other second passed, while Cregan was carving his way to what he believed to be the leader of the group Eddard, Barristan and Robert were focusing on killing as many bandits as they can and staying alive. "YOUR GRACE LOOK OUT!" Ser Barristan yelled out and started to run towards his king while an arrow was going straight towards Robert's face. As the arrow came closer and closer to his face time slowed down as he noticed a blade slashing in the way of the arrow, ripping it in half. "What?" he looked to his right to see Cregan parrying each arrow the came at him both shielding Robert and himself. While Barristan and Robert stopped dead in their tracks to look in awe at the spectacle Eddard noticed something...

'He's slowing down' as he took down another poacher Eddard noticed his son parrying less and less arrows, but then he heard crossbows loading up from his left, all of them aiming at Cregan, "CREGAN GET OUT OF THERE" Eddard screamed to try and warn his son but before he could finish the arrows were already flying towards Cregan. Normally, Cregan could easily parry the arrows, but his wounds finnally got to him. He was still able to take out two or three arrows but most of them got a hit on him. As Sif saw this his grief turned to rage to see his master in pain, he let out a howl before charging at the leader of the group, jumping at him and tearing apart his throat, ripping of his head in the process. As the leader died all of the poachers started retreating in fear of the direwolf.

The three ran up to the barely conciouss and gravely wounded boy. "Cregan" his father shouted out while kneeling near him. "I'll live..." Cregan could barely speak, his arrow wounds were covering almost his entire body and yet somehow he was still alive. As Eddard was carrefully breaking the arrows of Cregan they heard a rough cough as Sif started to growl at the wounded man. "Tha- that fucking... demon" Barristan and Robert approached him with Barristan placing his sword on the poachers neck. "Who sent you?, How come there were so many of you?" Eddard started to question him, still at his son's side resulting in the wounded man to let out a laugh "You think i'm gonna tell you anything, i'm a dead man" Robert lifted his warhammer as his face started tu burn with rage "Aye, you are but if you don't answer our questions i'll make sure to make your death as painfull as possible" he then forced his hammer on one of the wounded man's legs breaking it in the procces. "AGH, AGH, alright... alright, please stop" he stopped Robert as he was about to break the other leg.

"We... we all gathered up to try and kill that monster..."  
"He's been killing us for two years now and we thought if more of us grouped up we could finnally kill HIM" he looked towards Cregan who, like him, was struggling to breathe because of his wounds

"That Monster killed my friends... cut of his arms and spilled his guts on the floor..."

The sentence forced a laugh from Cregan...

"Wha- what are you laughing at you monster!" he forced a shout, barely able to push the words from his mouth

Cregan got up and looked at the wounded man

"You fucking people..."  
"You rape... you kill... you steal..."  
"But the moment something happens to you... you call it a crime"  
"When will you people learn..."

 **"You can't kill me..."**  
 **"No one can..."**

Cregan's face turned stone-cold, his smile dissapearing and his eyes narrowing. "You... YOU BASTA-" before the wounded man could finish his sentence Barristan placed his blade into the man's heart., ending his misery. Cregan then fell unconcious as the three carried him of from the field of corpses.

 **End of Flashback**

"I'll never forget those words Ned" Robert's face turned into dissapointment as he looked down at his stomach, reminising about his younger days, when he was as powerful as him.

Note:  
There you have it people chapter 10, and with that I will reveal the name of Cregan's swords, ahem drumroll please...

 **Frostbite and Demonsteel,**  
My regards to Lord Precision for these names, there were other good names as well for instance Moonlight Fury, Wolf's Rage, MoonWolf etc. But I wanted to keep the names to just a single word plus these names sounded cool and fitting.

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, thank you for all the reviews, favourites and follows and I will see you next time...


	12. Chapter 11: The Road to the Capital 2

Note:  
This is a total screw up on my part, in the last chapter I forgot to write how Sif lost an eye during the battle so just for continuity sake, he was slashed by one of the bandits near his eye...

ON WITH THE STORY...

 **Chapter 11: The Road to The Capital part 2**

Cregan ran through the forest, his footsteps were light as a feather and he was making no sound while speeding through the trees. Sif ran forward to scout up ahead. Cregan left his horse, valuing the better manuverability and silence. As he continued running he saw Sif keeping low so he emediatly ducked out of instinct. He sneaked towads his wolf who was looking at a brown bear. "There shouldn't be any bears this far South" he whispered to himself as he readied his bow and took out two arrows from his quiver. "Alright boy... on my mark" he pulled the string of his bow, readying his two arrows and pinpointing them near his head. "Howl" with that Sif let out a long howl making the bear turn around and Cregan shooting both arrows straight into his eyes, blinding him in the procces. "NOW" Sif charged the bear, aiming straight at his throat. With one bite Sif dropped the bear to the ground and started suffocating him, the bear struggled to get up but with his blindness and the sheer strength of the direwolf it was all in vain. After a few moments of struggling the bear finnaly stopped and with one move Sif broke the bears neck. "Well your jaws seem to be alright, but i'm still worried about that eye" he tapped his wolf on the head making him let go of the bear's neck.

30 minutes later...

Cregan and Sif managed to carry the entire carcass onto the cart that he attached to his horse and they continued to carry it to Lord Darry's keep.

As they were going back Cregan heard the sound of banging sticks. "Hear that Sif?" Cregan looked to his right shoulder where the sounds were coming from with Sif responding in a whimper. He dismounted his horse and tied it up to the nearby tree, "Let's see what it is". The two walked towards the sounds, after a few minutes of walking Sif and Cregan get to a river where Arya, Lyarra and Mycah fighting with sticks like they were swords with Lyarra only sitting at the side and watching. He was looking at them from a distance, as the children continued to play, Sansa and Joffrey found the three before Cregan and Sif could reach them.

"What do we have here" the prince said looking at the kids with Mycah emediatly dropping his stick, "Who are you boy?" he walked towards Mycah with eyes that brought fear into the boy "M- Mycah m-m- my lord". He was shivering from head to toe, his voice stutering and his knees weakening. "I'm not a lord, I'm a prince, and you'd better remember that", Joffrey pulled out his sword and pointed it at him, "What's a peasant doing with nobility". "We were just playing around", Lyarra jumped in as she tried to get Joffrey's attention. "Quiet girl" he screatched like a child out to Lyarra taking her by suprise and forcing her to take a step back. "Now, pick up your sword boy" he pointed toward the stick on the ground, "T- that's a stick your grace", "You want to be a knight some day? Then pick up your sword" the prince placed his sword on Mycah's cheek and slowly started to cut it. "Get off of him!" suddenly the prince was struck in the head by Arya with her stick. "AGH YOU BITCH" the prince once again started screatching but this time flailing his sword at her but Arya easily was dodging Joffrey's mad swings. With every swing Joffrey was screaming out of rage. Even with the swings Arya couldn't watch out for two things at once. While dodging a swing, she tripped on a rock and fell facefirst in the dirt. "I'LL GUT YOU, YOU LITTLE CUNT" Joffrey's face was extremely red, teeming with rage. As he continued screaming he was shoved away by Lyarra wiht Joffrey's face going even more red. "You little-" as he swung his sword Lyarra barely dodged it but the sword still cut her arm resulting in her also falling to the ground. As he was about to swing at her again Arya's wolf Nymeria jumped at him, and started gnawing at his arm. "Nymeria stop!" Arya commanded her wolf and took Joffrey's sword, placing it at his throat. "No, please" Joffrey was sniveling on the ground, clutching his bloodied hand. "Arya..." they all heard a voice making them turn their heads to see Cregan standing with his usual blank face. "That's enough" his voice was deep and commanding, a nice change from Joffrey's childish voice.

As Lyarra was forcing herself not to cry from her wound, Joffrey was continuing to snivel patheticaly. "Come on, let's go" he grabbed both Lyarra's and Arya's hand leading them away as well as telling Sansa, who was still in shock from the entire situation, to go with them. Leaving Joffrey alone and lying on the dirt.

"You could have crushed him" Arya was angry at Cregan for not interfering "And then I would kill the King's son". Cregan gave his sister a glare shutting her down emediatly. Lyarra was refusing to speak, still trying not to burst into tears from the pain. "Lyarra, go see the maester, he'll bandage your wounds", she only nodded and left to see the maester. "What now Cregan?" Sansa asked her brother, still confused at what she saw. "That little shit is probably going to run to his parents and blame it on you Arya", "I want the both of you to tell them what really happened, tell them the story and nothing else".

Cregan was right, only an hour had passed before they were called to the main hall were the king, the queen and a bandaged Joffrey along with most of the Baratheon and Lannister soldiers. The moment Cregan,Sansa,Arya and Lyarra entered the room whispers started to spread through the room and the queen's eyes shot a death stare towards Cregan who was returning the stare with an equal enough glare.

"That's them father, there the ones who attacked me" Joffrey pointed at the four, his voice teeming with rage. "Enough boy" he stopped Joffrey's screaming and turned to Eddard, who was standing next to Cregan. "Ned, Joffrey says that your children attacked him while he and Sansa were walking out in the woods.", "He's lying!" Arya screamed out making everyone jump from suprise, everyone except Cregan who gave her a glare making her shut up. "Your grace, Joffrey was walking with Sansa, but he was the one who attacked them", Cregan's voice was calm, barely above a whisper, as he continued his story he was interupted by the queen "You will adress your prince properly Stark" her voice was spitting venom at Cregan "I'll call him however I fucking want to, I swore no oath to you Lannister". Cregan's response made the queen shut her mouth and Joffrey's rage even larger while Robert smirked, someone who could finnaly shut up Cersei Lannister. "We're clearly not going to get anywhere here" Robert then looked at the girl with a bandaged arm, "Girl, you were there, tell me the truth, what happened?". Lyarra couldn't even look the king in the eye, "Cregan's telling the truth, your grace", "The prince attacked us and we were only defending ourselves". "LYAR!" Joffrey's face went red, his voice breaking and as he took a step forward Lyarra emediatly hid behind Eddard. "THEY ATTACKED ME, JUST LOOK AT WHAT THEY DID TO MY HAND!", "And look what you did to Lyarra's arm" Cregan pointed to the girl's wound. "ENOUGH" Robert roared out making everyone jump, except Cregan again.

He rubbed his hand on his forehead before speaking "What am I to do Ned?", "Your's says this, mine says this". "It's three against one your grace, I think it's clear who's telling the truth" Eddard spoke to his old frined trying to reason with him. "Your children are obviously going to defend themselves and the girl is your ward, of course she is going to side with you Lord Stark" The queen glared daggers at Lyarra who was still hiding behind Eddard. "What about the wolf then?", "That monster maimed our son". Robert sighed and looked to Eddard again "Right, I forgot about the damn wolf". "Have it killed, if we don't who knows if it won't just attack Joffrey again" Cersei ordered the Lannister guardsmen while looking at Nymeria who started to growl at the guardsmen who were walking towards her. "The next one to take a step toward the wolf get's their hands chopped off" Cregan pulled out his longsword and pointed it at the guardsmen resulting in everyone also unsheating their swords. "Lord Cregan, please stand down, you can't take all of us down" Ser Barristan approached him with his sword still in his hand. "You off all people should know how sharp my blade is Ser Barristan" his voice was menacing, he wasn't even budging at the thirty or so guardsmen approaching him.

"THAT'S ENOUGH"

Robert once again roared out, stopping everyone dead in their tracks. "There will be no bloodshed!" he then seated back on his chair and looked at Eddard, "Ned, take care of your children and I will take care of mine", "Aye I will" Eddard then signaled his children to leave the main hall.

As the day passed and night came, Cregan was training with his usual dual-wielding style until he heard footsteps coming towards him. "I see you are preoccupied" the queen was slowly walking towards him until she stopped the moment he looked at her. "What do you want, 'Your Grace' " he said while continuing his training. "I wanted to give you a warning" she started to approach him again.

"I won't forget this Stark..."  
"Remember these words... The Lannisters always pay their depts"  
"Aye, I will"

Cregan exited his stance and turned towards her

 **"But remember this Lannister..."**  
 **"Today was your first mistake"**  
 **"If I see you touch my sisters, I will cut off your hands"**  
 **"If I see you speak ill of them, I will cut off your tongue"**  
 **"If I see you even look at them wrong, I carve out your eyes"**  
 **"My family may not know how to play this game, but I do"**  
 **"And I will destroy you** "

 **"Because I do not forget... And I do not forgive"**


	13. Chapter 12: The Knight of Winterfell

**Chapter 12: The Knight of Winterfell**

 _'Chairs so close a room so small'_  
 _'You and I talk all the night long'_  
 _'Meager this space but serves us all well'_  
 _'We comrades have stories to tell'_

 _'And it's always like that in the evening time'_  
 _'We drink and we sing when our fighting is done'_  
 _'And it's always so we live under the burnt clouds'_  
 _'Ease our burden long is the night'_

 _'Dust and smoke, stars can't be seen'_  
 _'We all starve for a moonbeam on our town'_  
 _'We must all gather as one'_  
 _'Sing with hope and our fear will be gone'_

Cregan murmured the lyrics to himself, a song that he treasured. A song that belonged to only him and Margaery. Despite what people say, Cregan did share his sisters singing voice and during his time in Highgarden Margaery and him wrote a song just for them. The simple memory of her made him let out a smile, a challenging feat for anyone else. With each day they got closer to the capital, he only could think of the time he was shipped of to Highgarden. The first day he was there, Cregan was met with unfimiliar faces and false smiles but as the months passed he got more accustomed to the warm weather and beautifull gardens of Highgarden. He remembered how he would run and ride along the countryside with Margaery, laughing and smiling. Those were the days he loved the most, the days of innocence, the days where he didn't need to worry about anything... Those days are long gone.

When they finnaly arrived Cregan was expecting to see the richest and most beautiful city in all of Westeros. But all he saw was a dirty and mud-ridden slum, once again he was dissapointment in the crown, something that was becoming a continuing theme. One day, Cregan was summoned to the throne room. When he entered the throne room he saw the king sitting on The Iron Throne wielding his warhammer with his father to Robert's right and his sisters to Robert's left.

"Cregan of House Stark, step forth"  
"I, King Robert Baratheon, first of my name, king of the Andals and The First Men and protector of the realm, step forth and I will grant you the title of a knight"

Cregan's face was still emotionless, after a second of standing he took a step forward and kneelt before him,

"In the name of The Father I charge you to be just"

"In the name of The Mother I charge you to defend the young and innocent"

"In the name of The Warrior I charge you to be brave"  
"In the name of The Maid I charge you to protect all women..."

As he continued with the ceremony, the king placed his warhammer on both of his shoulders. When he was finished speaking the high septon aproached Cregan and anointed him with the seven oils.

"Now rise..."

As Cregan stood up he looked directly at the king as he once again spoke.

"I dub thee Ser Cregan Stark of Winterfell"

For the first time Cregan was suprised with the king, this may have been the first time he wasn't piss drunk or gouging on a chicken leg, his voice was formal and aouthorotive and every step he took, he took with all his strength to stay straight despite his weight. As he stood up nobles, merchants and other knights were clapping and cheering for the newly knighted boy.

After Cregan's ceremony, they all left the throne room and he and his family meet in the Hand's office. "Congratulations Cregan, your a knight now" his father said in a proud tone and a smile on his face. "Aye, guess I am" Cregan was still confused about the whole situation, despite his reactions he was very suprised with the ceremony. "So does that mean your going to participate in the tournament?" Lyarra, who had her own little desk next to Eddards with three books for reading and a quill and paper for writing. "Tournament?" Cregan was continuing to be suprised, "The Hand's tournament, in honor of the new position" Sansa entered the conversation. Eddard's face turned sour, he was obviously not happy about the subject of the tournament, he never did like them. "Alright then, I better get prepared", "Wait, Cregan, your serious?" Sansa was shocked at her brother, she never thought of him as the one who would fight for fame and glory. "Yes".

He then left for the training yard that was suprisingly empty at this time of day but when he reached it he was meet with a young boy beside Cregan's two swords, "Who are you?" he was walking towards the boy who froze the moment Cregan spoke "My name is Triston, my lord, you father has assigned me to be your squire". Cregan kept staring at the boy causing him to shiver out of fear. "How old are you?" he raised an eyebrow at the boy, "Twelve, my lord". "Alright then Triston, grab your gear, were going to spar" the boy's eyes widened, "S-S-Spar my lord?" he started to stutter with his knees weakening "Yes, spar, now go get your gear", "Y-Yes my lord, right away". As Tristion took off to get his gear on, Cregan heard the whimper of his wolf Sif who was looking at him with the eyes of a puppy. "No, of course i'm not trying to get rid of you Sif" Sif let out a happy bark at the words, his expression turning into joy "What do you think? Should we keep him?" Cregan asked his wolf while looking at the boy who was struggling with putting on his gear, Sif responded with an couple of barks. "Aye, I guess he could be usefull to us, that is if he can keep up".

"Triston, are you ready yet!" he shouted towards the boy who was still getting prepared

"Yes my lord, ready"

"Good, now let's go, I want to see how you handle yourself in a fight".

Note:  
Here it is people, Chapter 12, the next chapter will be all about the hand's tournament and a very special fight will occur...

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, thank you to all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.


	14. Chapter 13: The Hand's Tournament

**Chapter 13: The Hand's Tournament**

Today was The Hand's Tournament, knights both high and low were gathering for their moment of glory, the prize money was a good incentive as well. In the tournament, there were three competitions. Jousting, archery and, the most interesting one, the meele. In jousting, competitiors would charge at each other with lances and trying to knock one or the other off. Archery, in which competitors will test their aim with both bow and arrow and crossbow. And finnaly, the meele, in which a group of competitors will fight on a field with weapons of their choice similiar to a real battle. This is the one Cregan was most interested in, no staged fights, no rules, only the sweet song of steel.

"Triston, did you get my armor?", Cregan was polishing his blades, not breaking eye contact with eather of them. "Yes my lord, here you are" the young squire brought a stall with Cregan's personal armor set. The armor was half platemail, half chainmail, adorned with the colours and pattern of House Stark. Despite the look of it, the armor gave him manuverability and speed but gave enough protection to stop an axe or poorly placed sword. "My lord, is it wise for you to go without a shield", Tristion noted the two swords on Cregan's back but no shield. "A shield will only put on more weight", "Very well my lord". As Cregan began to mount his horse he heard a voice he had not heard for years.

"Long time no see, Stark" a knight in Tyrell armor, adorned with steel roses and a white scarf wrapped around the knights neck approached Cregan "Loras, why are you here?" a smile appeared on Cregan's face as he saw his childhood friend "What, can't a man greet his old friend" the two shook hands and exchanged smiles

"Heard you became a knight"  
"Aye, just a few days ago"  
"Being knighted by the king himself, there's not a greater honor than that for a knight"  
"By a king, yes, but by this king, i'm not sure"  
"Well anyways I wanted to wish you luck at the joust today"  
"Good luck to you as well Loras"

After their short conversation the two parted ways with one last goodbye. "My lord, can I ask you something?" Triston waddled over to Cregan still awed at the sight "What is it Triston?". "You and The Knight of Flowers are friends?" his voice started to crack at the mention of the moment. "Childhood friends, long story" he then turned to his squire with his smile dissapearing "Now let's go, I want to get this over with as soon as possible".

 **The beggining of the Tournament...**

The knights all lined up in front of The Royal Family. While there were many knights the only ones of note were Ser Gregor 'The Mountain' Clegane, Ser Jaime 'The Kingslayer' Lannister, Ser Barristan 'The Bold' Selmy, Thoros of Myr, Ser Cregan 'The Demon' Stark and Ser Loras 'The Knight of Flowers' Tyrell. They all lined up, took of their helmets and bowed their heads toward the king. Beside Cregan was a new knight like him, Ser Hugh of The Vale, former squire of Jon Arryn.

As the joust began knight after knight fell, Ser Jaime unseated Thoros of Myr, Ser Loras unseated Ser John Royce, Ser Cregan unseated Ser Barristan. Nothing of note happened up until the match with Ser Hugh and Ser Gregor. As the two began the to charge at each other Cregan was watching Ser Gregor, curious about the legendary 'Mountain that Rides'. While watching he notices something, Ser Gregor lifted his lance to Ser Hugh's neck, before he could confirm what he saw Ser Hugh had a sharp stick in his throat as splinters went flying in the air and screams spread throughout the arena. Ser Hugh was choking on his own blood, carving at his throat for air, scratching off pieces of his skin in the proccess. While everyone was screaming and staring at the suffocating knight all Cregan could watch was The Mountain riding away, although it could not be seen from his helm Cregan knew he was smiling at the young knights suffering. 'So you smile' his thoughts overechoed the screams and cries of the terrified crowd, 'You smile while killing, alright then, well see how you handle me'

The next day, after the incident, the tournament continued. Many jousts were held, this time with no casualties thankfully, but that was about to change. As the next round began the competitors were announced, Ser Cregan Stark and Ser Gregor Clegane. The two lined up in front of The Royal Family and bowed, during that time Cregan took a quick galnce at his sister, he saw the fear in her eyes, the fear of losing her brother. 'Don't worry Sansa, I'm not going anywhere' Cregan thought to himself while looking at her distressed face.  
The joust began, the two knights began to charge their horses at each other, Gregor's lance was pointed at Cregan's neck while Cregan's was pointed at Gregor's chest, the y continued to charge before Cregan suddenly pushed his lance upwards towards Gregor's eyes and before The Mountain's lance could hit him he dodged to the side and thrusted the lance into Gregor's helmet. As splinters flew into the air and into his vizor blinding The Mountain and in turn also knocking him off his horse. The crowd cheered as The Mountain that Rides was unseated by The Demon of The North. But it was not over yet. As Gregor shook away the splinters of wood from reaching his eyes he shouted, "GET ME MY SWORD!", one of his servants handed him a greatsword and as soon as he had it in his hands he decapitated his horse and quickly moved onto Cregan. Cregan quickly jumped of his horse and shouted "TRISTON, SWORDS, NOW!", his squire threw him Frostbite and Demonsteel as Cregan quickly got into his stance.

The Mountain charged at him swinging his greatsword, nothing Cregan couldn't handle. For the first five seconds Cregan dodged and observed his opponents swings, trying to find a pattern in his rage before reaching the conclusion that his swings were nothing more than a combination of Rage and Clumsiness. 'Time to finish you off ' Cregan started aiming for his knees, swinging Frostbite at his knees and stabbing his thigh with Demonsteel. "Not's so easy to kill something that fights back now is it Clegane" he mocked The Mountain while taking off his helm to get release some weight and speeding up. "LITTLE WORM!" he screamed out while swinging his greatsword that Cregan countered with a skillfull parry before unleashing a neverending assault of slashes and stabs towards The Mountain, breaking off pieces of his armor in the proccess and giving Cregan more space to deliver a kiling blow. One hit per second, two hits, three hits, four hits and finnally five hits per second before unleashing a vicious swing breaking the greatsword in half followed up by thrusting Demonsteel into the man's gut and slashing it, spilling his organs on the floor.

As Clegane was struggling to keep his guts from leaving his body, Cregan was slowly approaching him.

"Who... who... who the fuck are you?"

"Simple..."

"I'm The Stranger's own personal executioner"

With that Cregan took three swings, cutting of both of his arms and finnaly decapitating him.

'The Mountain has fallen' a voice, different from his, echoed through his mind, he felt a slight breeze on his skin, it was cold and dry chiling him to the bone.

The crowd went silent as everyone's eyes widened, a whole minute passed before silence was overcome with screams of happines, women were crying of joy, knights and soldiers were praising Cregan's name, children looked at him with awe. Cregan opened his eyes and turned towards his family who were filled with pride and happines to see him alive.

 **End of Tournament...**

As he left the jousting field he was meet with his squire Triston looking at his master in awe "My lord, that was amazing!" his voice was filled with exitement. "What was?" Cregan raised an eyebrow at the boys praises "Are you kiding, you just beat the strongest man in Westeros". "Guess he wasn't that strong if he couldn't meet my blades" Cregan started taking off his armor, but clearly having troubles with the armor "Here my lord, let me".

As Triston began taking off Cregan's armor when he heard footsteps.

"Queen Cersei"  
"Ser Cregan"  
"What are you doing here?"  
"I wanted to congratulate you on your recent victory"  
"Thank you, your grace"

Cregan smiled at the queen catching her off guard, his smile actually seamed genuine which took Cersei even more off guard. She returned the smile and courtseid him and left but befroe she could...

"Oh, and your grace..."  
"Yes?"  
"The next time you try to send a killer after me do try to find someone who's more competent"


	15. Chapter 14: Another day in Kings Landing

Note:  
So I just saw the new Game of Thrones Season 6 teaser and... it's a... it's a trip down memory lane alright...

Then I saw the new pictures and saw something in the Sansa pictures and if my theory is correct I swear to god I will light the biggest fire The North has ever seen... God where's my Red Bull.

ON WITH THE CHAPTER...

 **Chapter 14: Another day in King's Landing**

 **Red skies...**  
 **Bloody river...**  
 **Screaming children...**  
 **The howl of wolves...**

"Help us" a whisper echoed through Cregan's ears

"Help us" the whisper started to become louder

A screatch was heard as Cregan lowered his head to see him standing on a pillar and millions of small skinned corpses clawing away the pillar. Cregan was looking down with an emotionless stare without even moving a muscle. He felt a small breeze as snow started to fall and the corpses began to get covered by it.

 ** _"YOUR FAULT"_** suddenly a familiar voice echoed in his head as something forced him to turn around and when he did he saw it again. Staring directly at him, now with half its face torn off and yet the only thing Cregan could focus on were his bloody eyes that were staring back at him, one arm was completely shreeded, bones could be seen as blood dripped from it's fingers.

"Why..."  
"Why are you showing me this?"

Cregan began shaking, his arms and knees were weak, his voice starting to stutter and his pupils shortening from fear.

"Are you going to torture me forever or do you want to kill me?"

The corpse continued to stare at him, his smile grew larger by the second. After 15 seconds of pure silence it finnaly opened it's mouth and started 'talking'. It started to speak a language that was foreign to him that resembled more like the ramblings of a mad man, its head started to twitch and his eyes started to bleed until there was only a red void left, after it was finished talking the corpse shoved it's hand down it's throat and started to pull out a spear. The spear was covered in blood, entrails and organs and without warning the corpse shoved the spear through Cregan's eye that emediatly woke him up.

Cregan jumped from his bed while breathing heavily, after a few frantic moments of looking around Cregan calmed down as he sees that no one was around him except Sif who was still sleeping. Once he calms down he suddenly felt a pain in his head and then he sees that, once again, he was bleeding from his nose...

'I have to get stronger...'  
'I have to...'  
'...Or they will all die because of me'

 **The Following Day...**

After The Hand's Tournament Cregan began to be more popular with both the commonfolk and the merchants and nobles. He would go out to the courtyard to train only to be meet with servants bowing to him and wanting to walk up to him and thank him along with handmaidens whispering about how much of a hero he is. The fact that the king named him master at arms of The Red Keep didn't help him get some alone time either. He would have to sit through countless council meetings that would usualy not result in anything other than a couple of fights in the taverns and the goldcloaks needing more men.

One day, Cregan decided to go hunting just to calm his nerves. "Triston, get your gear ready, we're going hunting" Cregan was saddling his horse and putting his bow and arrows in his quiver as well as sheathing his swords. "Hunting my lord"  
he asked Cregan while polishing his masters armor. "Yes", Cregan then attached the sheaths of his swords to his horses saddle and walked toward his squire. "Now saddle up, we leave in ten minutes", "Right away, my lord", Tristion then ran to get his sword and bow that Cregan bought for him.

Despite the young boys stature and young age, he was a skilled fighter but a bit clumsy at times. Through the weeks they spent some time together and got to know each other. Triston was a bastard of The Vale, he never knew his father nor his mother except he was raised by a hedge knight who was killed in a tournament when Triston was nine years old. He traveled to King's Landing and spent the next three years as a beggar until he was picked by Eddard as Cregan's squire.  
Cregan never understood why his father did that, did he fell bad for the boy, was this his father's own way of teaching him about the duties of a knight, it was the one thing about his that he could never find out about. Like Cregan, Triston preffered speed over brute strength but unlike him Triston couldn't find the perfect balance beetwen those two and leaned more to speed and accuracy. He also went along well with Lyarra, the girl seemed to have a prefference for bastards it seemed. Maybe she felt more at home with those of lowbirth like herself rather than the ones of nobility.

The two finished saddling their horses and rode off to into the wild but before they could leave The Red Keep something caught Cregan's eyes, a giant man, just a bit more than six feet tall in black chainmail with a steel longsword on his back. As he approached him he noticed the half-burnt face of the black armored warrior.

"Are you the one that killed my brother?" the man walked up to Cregan, staring directly at him

"Depends on who's your brother" Cregan wasn't even flinching at the intimidating man walking toward him

"The Mountain" his face emediatly turned to disgust at mere mention of the name

"Then yes, I am" his face was still emotionless as his eyes narrowed at the man

"So your Sandor Clegane I pressume"  
"Aye, I am"

An eery silence overcame the three, Cregan and The Hound staring at each other as if they were mortal enemies and Triston looking at the two from the side alongside Sif. After a few moments of uncomfortable stares The Hounds eyes softened as he took a bow

"Thank you"

The Hound then left to The Princes Chambers, leaving Cregan and Triston, Triston once again looking in awe and Cregan still with his stone cold stare.

"If I didn't know better my lord I would say that you are getting very popular around here"  
"Aye, I guess I am. Now let's go"

The two then left, with Sif in the front and Cregan following his wolf with Triston at his side.

'Alright then Triston, we'll see how good you handle yourself on one of MY hunts'

Note:  
This is just a filler chapter because I wanted to write another dream sequence. Also, I want you guys to tell what you think about the action scenes and if i'm writting them good enough because once again I am still a newbie in writting and still I am almost a hundred percent certain that not all of you are satisfied with my wirting style as well as your suggestions for how you people want the story to unfold, am I going too slow, should I speed up, YOU DECIDE.

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.


	16. Chapter 15: The Crownland Hunt

**Chapter 15: The Crownland Hunt**

Cregan and Triston were riding through the forest, swords at their sides, bows on their backs, with Sif leading them with his sense of smell. "My lord, we've been riding for hours now, shouldn't we stop", Cregan ignored his squires shouts, eyes forward and not slowing down. After another thirty minutes of galoping through the forests Sif suddenly stopped and lowered his head as he started growling, Cregan and Triston emediatly followed the wolf's lead, dismounting their horses and taking out their bows. They slowly approached Sif's side, as they got to the small hillside where he was hiding they all saw an encampment filled with bandits, poachers, highwayman and the most suprising one is slavers. "A bandit hideout" Cregan whispered keeping his head low as he took a couple of arrows from his quiver. "Wait my lord, there are to many of them, we can't take them all out", Triston was right, there over a hundred decently equipped men, as well as hostages who were being trafficked off to the slavers, but Cregan had a plan. "Don't worry Triston, just stay here and wait for my signal, and remember, don't die".

Cregan then took off into the foliage, dissapearing instantly with Sif following close behind. Triston took a long sigh as he himself took out three arrows, pulled out a vial of some strange green liquid and covered his arrows with it, remembering Cregan's instrouctions 'Remember, if we find any trouble in the woods, use this on your arrows and leave the rest to me'. As Triston pulled his arrows back he saw Cregan on the other side, doing the same thing. Cregan pointed at the barrels, one was on his left the other on his right side in the encampment. He started aiming at the right barrel as he signaled Triston to take aim at the left barrel.

"Sif..."

"..Howl"

With that Sif let out his howl distracting all of the bandits. Cregan then shoot his arrow at the barrel with Triston doing the same. As the arrows connected with the barrels green flames sorrounded the encampment stopping the bandits from running away but also not harming any of the hostages. Cregan and Sif then jumped down right in the middle of the entire encampent, they killed ten men in the first few moments during the confusion. Sif's speed helped him protect the hostages from the slavers, ripping the throats of anyone who would come close to them while Cregan was slaughtering the bandits, poachers and highwayman with ease. During the chaos, Triston was still on the small hillside pondering if he should join in the battle. 'There's still to many of them' he thought, gripping the hilt of his sword yet still hesitating to run into combat. 'They need my help, I have to help them' he once again took a long sigh and ran towards the encampment, sword in hand.

With each swing Cregan took another bandit down as he noticed Triston joining in the action and holding his own very well, 'So you do know how to fight' he thought as he ducked, dodging a bandits swing and took a swing cutting off the man's legs before plunging Demonsteel in the man's skull. Triston and Cregan were cutting down men left and right while Sif was still focusing on defending the hostages. As the flames died down the remaining men fleed leaving Cregan, Triston, Sif and the hostages alone in an now abandoned encampment. Triston emediately fell to the ground, exhausted from the battle while Cregan didn't even break a sweat but covered in the blood of his enemies. "That, was amazing" Triston was breathing heavily, his sword soaked in blood and he was covered in small scratches. "You handle yourself well Triston" Cregan was cleaning his blades, wipping the blood on the corpses of the fallen bandits before approaching the hostages.

Almost all of the hostages were young women and little girls, they were in a corner, confused and frightened to what happened. "Can any of you talk?" Cregan said mockingly, looking at the women who were shivering in fear. "I'll ask again, can, any, of, you, talk" his speech slowed down, his eyes narrowing and his tone becoming more annoyed. "Who are you?" one of the girls spoke up, still quivering in fear. "A knight" with those words the girls calmed down a bit but were still treading carefully. Cregan stared at the girls for a few moments before taking a step forward and reaching his hand out to one of the girls. "Don't worry, your all safe now" Cregan's eyes softened and his tone became much more welcoming as the young girl took his hand and he lifted her from the dirt.

"Now, I need some answers here, how did you girls get captured?" silence once again befell the crowd of girls until one of them spoke up. "We were taken from our homes, these people were going to sell us as slaves" the girl's face was stone cold as her eyes meet with Cregan's, "They do anything to any of you" his tone went back to being deep and aouthorotive. "No, thankfully you and your companions saved us before they could do anything" another girl joined in the conversation. "Triston, I need you to get back to King's Landing and inform my father" Cregan turned to his squire who was looking around the encampment. "Yes my lord" Triston ran to his horse and rode hard for King's Landing.

 **Eddard's POV**

To Eddard, every day seemed to get longer and longer, hours seemed like months as every council meeting gave him an even bigger headache. Today seemed like just another day in King's Landing until Triston came to the council chambers, covered in blood and out of breath. "Triston, what happened!" Eddard jumped from his chair, his face filled with concern. "We found a bandit encampment in the woods, Ser Cregan sent me to you to request for help", "What! Did something happen to Cregan!" Eddard began to be even more. "No my lord, in the encampment there were hostages, Lord Cregan needs more men to lead the hostages to safety" Triston was still trying to catch his breath as Eddard calmed down and sat back down on his chair. "But what about the bandits?" Lord Renly, master of laws, jumped in as Eddard was rubbing his forehead in frustration. "Lord Cregan took care of them all" Triston's response made everyone raise their eyebrows, all except Eddard who expected as much from his son. "Very well, Triston, you have my household guard, lead them to the encampment".

 **Cregan's POV**

Two hours have passed since Cregan had sent his squire to get reinforcement's and just when he started to think that Triston may have gotten attacked on the way back he saw his squire accompanied by twenty Stark men. "Took you long enough", "I'm sorry my lord, it needed some time to get to King's Landing and back". Cregan turned to the Stark men who each had two spare horses with them for each hostages. "These men will get you girls back home safe". "Thank you so much, but I have to ask, why did you go through all this trouble for us?"

"Protect those who can't defend themselves, isn't that what knights are supposed to do"


	17. Chapter 16: The Gardens

**Chapter 16: The Gardens**

 **Lyarra's POV**

Cregan was doing his usual training routine, train till you drop then train some more, "How long has he been doing this?" Lyarra asked, sitting on a box to the side of the courtyard with Triston looking at his master at awe. "Five, bloody, hours now" Triston answered the girl while polishing Cregan's dusty armor, clearly showing that he doesn't us it much. "Hey Lyarra, you've known him for longer, how long does he usualy train?", "Well depends" Lyarra jumped off the box to pet Sif, who was lying on the ground, staring at the piece of meat pie on the table next to him. "Did he say hello to you this morning?" she asked Triston while gently patting Sif's head, "No...", "Then that means he's stressed out" she let out an innocent smile towards Triston confusing the young boy, "So he will stop soon?" a little glimmer of hope gathered in Triston's eyes as the thought of getting out of the hot sun came to him. "No, it means he'll probably be going at it for another five hours".  
"Damn" Triston whispered to himself as he took a long sigh and continued to polish the dust covered armor. "You know you don't have to be by his side all the time" Lyarra broke the silence while reaching for the meat pie that Sif was staring at. "I'm his squire, of course I have to be by his side", "You don't really get Cregan do you?" Triston raised an eyebrow at Lyarra's question. Before he could answer the question a dummy's head went flying past him, catching him off his guard as he tripped and fell.

"Triston, new dummy" as the boy turned he saw Cregan looking at him with a decimated dummy to his right. "R- R- Right away my lord" Triston quickly got up and ran to get another dummy with Lyarra giggling at the boy. As Triston left Cregan approached the table with a jug of water, a loaf of bread and an empty plate where the meat pie that Sif was currently gorging on was supposed to be.

"You two are certainly getting along" Cregan was wiping the massive amount of sweat with a dry towel while drinking water from the jug

"Yeah, we do" Lyarra was still patting a now sleepy Sif from eating the meat pie

"What's the deal with you and him anyway?"  
"He's good company, he is also way to easy to make fun of"  
"On that we can agree on"

A moment of silence beffell the two as Lyarra's expression saddened, "Your thinking of Jon aren't you?", she looked to Cregan who was still wiping the sweat from his face, "I miss him", "Your not the only one". Lyarra got even more sad while Cregan's expression was still emotionless as always, "Tell you what..." Cregan took a few steps towards the girl and kneelt down to meet her height. "One day you and I can travel to the wall to visit Jon" Lyarra's face light up at the mere suggestion, "Really?", Cregan put his hand on her shoulder as a barely noticable smile came to his face, placing his other hand where his heart should be "On my honor as a Stark".

The thought of seeing Jon again filled the girl with happines. Altough she had formed a strong bond with all of the Stark children Jon was the only one she could relate to, with him she felt equal, she didn't have to act properly, she could talk with him whatever way she wanted to. With the Stark children she could still play, eat and talk with them but she knew she would never be like them, 'just a lowborn peasant girl who was lucky enough not to get killed by raiders' despite her actions not showing it, Lyarra had a very low opinion of herself and with Jon she never thought of him as the young lord who took pity on her but more as a friend.

"Hey Lyarra..." Cregan snapped the girl from her thoughts

"... do you mind taking Sif out for a walk, I don't want to get out of this courtyard"  
"But, why?"  
"The moment I get out of here some asslicking servant is going to come and summon me for another council meeting"  
"Alright, come on Sif" Lyarra patted her left leg, signaling Sif to follow

 **Eddard's POV**

In the coucil chambers, Eddard, Lord Renly, Lord Petyr Baelish, Lord Varys and Grand Maester Pycelle were dealing with the ussual tavern brawls and street fights, "Where is your son, if you do not mind me asking my lord", Lord Varys leaned on the table to look at Eddard. "Knowing Cregan he is probably training" Eddard was looking at a parchment of the costs of the tournament 'Gods Robert, how harder can you possibly make my job be' Eddard has been dealing with the crowns dept ever since he arrived in King's Landing, six million crowns in dept to be exact. "Perhaps the boy should look for a woman to warm his bed rather than chasing death at every oppurtunity" Lord Baelish snapped Eddard from his thoughts, his words resulting in Eddard giving out a chuckle "Is that so Lord Baelish, I doupt you can persuade Cregan to find a girl", "You wound me my lord, my establishment invented certain desires" Littlefinger said in his usual sly and whispery voice. "One visit to my brothel and your boy will be coming back every day" he stated proudly as if he was boasting. "It's seems you don't know my son as much as you think you do", Eddard gave Littlefinger a smirk as he continued "The only girl to ever have my boys heart is Margaery Tyrell". Eddard's response made everyone raise an eyebrow, Lord Renly seemed to be the most interested in the topic.

 **Cregan's POV**

 _'Chairs so close a room so small'_  
 _'You and I talk all the night long'_  
 _'Meager this space but serves us all well'_  
 _'We comrades have stories to tell'_

 _'And it's always like that in the evening time'_  
 _'We drink and we sing when our fighting is done'_  
 _'And it's always so we live under the burnt clouds'_  
 _'Ease our burden long is the night'_

 _'Dust and smoke, stars can't be seen'_  
 _'We all starve for a moonbeam on our town'_  
 _'We must all gather as one'_  
 _'Sing with hope and our fear will be gone'_

Cregan once again was humming his little song while waiting for his squire, when he was singing all his stress would be gone, every problem he had, every bad memory, nothing, only happines and joy. He could fell the warm winds of The Reach, he could see the children playing in the fields and the farmers smoking their pipes while on their rocking chair. A smile appeared on his face, he didn't care who saw it, he couldn't keep his mask on anymore. When he closed his eyes he remembered Garlan, Loras and him training and having fun. He remembered the teachings of Willas, how he would help him read and write as well as the ways of the hunt. But the sweetest of all memories was those with Margaery, her smile, her eyes, her playfullnes, an innocence that Cregan adored.

Last year, he went to Highgarden to visit his second family. He was meet by Willas, Garlan and Loras emediately, what he once thought were false smiles now were the welcomes of brothers, in all but blood and name.

 **Flashback**

"It's good to see you all again" Cregan was smiling and laughing while sorrounded by the Tyrell brothers. "It's been a while Cregan, i'm glad you decided to come visit us" Willas spoke up, his voice formal yet welcoming. "Come now Willas, you don't have to keep up the whole lordly act" Garlan gave Cregan a harty hug and a warm smile. After they exchanged their greetings they emediately went to the training yard.

The four talked on for hours, they drank they sang and they laughed. "I wanted to ask you all, where's Margaery?", Willas, Garlan and Loras looked at each other with small grins confusing Cregan. "You should have seen her reaction when she heard you were visiting" Loras turned back at Cregan with a devilish smile. "Loras, don't embarass the girl, she's in her chambers" Willas interrupted his younger brother before he could continue. "Feel free to go visit her", "I think i'll do that, if you'll excuse me" Cregan smiled back at the Tyrell brothers and bowed before leaving for Margaery's room, trying to remember where the room actually was.

As he walked closer and closer to Margaery's chambers he could hear her humming the song they both held dear to their hearts. When he opened the door to her chambers Cregan saw her brushing her long brown hair, "You've gotten better". Cregan's words made the girl turn around and drop her brush in suprise and embarrasment, "Cregan..." she whispered as her face went from suprise to utter joy. "Cregan!" Margaery jumped from her chair and hugged Cregan tightly, "I've missed you". "I've missed you too" Cregan returned the girls hug as a smile appeared on his face. After a long embrace Margaery let go of Cregan only to meet his smile with warm eyes and a soft expression. "Come, sit" Margaery took his hand and lead him to a chair as sat down on the other chair next to the mirror where she was brushing her hair.

"Your brothers haven't changed a bit"  
"Oh, in what regard?"  
"Willas still acts like a true lord, Garlan still acts like a true knight and Loras is still Loras"  
"And what about me?"  
"Your even more beautifull than the day I met you"

Cregan's response made the girl blush as she was trying to hide her shyness. "You always did know how to make me smile" Margaery was still trying to hide her rosy red cheeks, her eyes pinned to the ground, her voice barely above a whisper, "I wish I could do the same for you". An uncomfortable silence beffel the room. Margaery got up from her chair and leaned to Cregan, pushing her lips to his. This suprised Cregan, he didn't expect this, he wanted to push her back but he couldn't move, every bone in his body was frozen, when Margaery finnaly stopped kissing Cregan her cheeks were now burning red, "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have done that". Margaery stood up and turned back from Cregan. Cregan was still sitting frozen on the chair but when he gathered the strength to get up he walked up to her and emediately embraced her, returning the kiss. "Sorry, you caught me off guard" Cregan's voice was deep, his eyes warm as a smile came to his face.

"Am I interuppting something"

Margaery and Cregan emediatelyspun towards the door to see none other than The Queen of Thorns, Lady Olenna Tyrell. "Grandmother, we- we were just-" Margaery started to stutter trying to provide an excuse only for Lady Ollena to let out a harty laugh and a smile. "No need child, we all have our pleasures" her Grandmother's words made the girl even more embarrased with Cregan looking down at the floor, sharing Margaery's embarasment.

 **End of Flashback**

"My lord, I brought the dummy" Triston snapped Cregan from his thoughts. "What took you so long", "I'm sorry my lord, it take time to carry these things all the way", Triston was breathing heavily, clearly showing his exhaustion from carrying the dummy.

"You know what Triston, I think that's enough for today", at first Triston was confused but when he saw Cregan's face he was left spechless, "What?", "My lord, are you smiling?". His question made Cregan's smile widen as his face began to be even more friendlier, "Oh, I guess I am".

"Now come on, let's go get ourselves a drink"

Note:  
Here it is people, chapter 16, I wrote this chapter to show off the relationship beetwen Cregan and Margaery a bit more but I had a lot of problems because of that pesky romantic dialogue again, also if anyone has any advice for me on how to write the romance dialogue I will gladly accept it.

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.


	18. Chapter 17: Black of Hair

**Chapter 17: Black of Hair**

 **Eddard's POV**

Ever since he got here, Eddard has been struggling with the troubles of the crown, civil unrest, riots, the crowns dept and so forth. But the one thing that has been bothering him more than all those things, Jon Arryn's death. Despite his age, Jon Arryn was a perfectly healthy man and a sudden fever is just to suspicious. The fact that his sister-in-law Lysa sent him and Catelyn a letter saying that the Lannisters killed Jon to hide their secret. "What secret?" Eddard whispered to himself while reading the book of the great families of Westeros. "What are you hiding Lannisters?" he continued to fly through the pages, House Targaeryen, House Tyrell, House Lannister, House Stark, House Tully, House Arryn and House Baratheon...

 _"Steffon Baratheon, eyes of blue, black of hair"_  
 _"Robert Baratheon, eyes of blue, black of hair"_  
 _"Joffrey Baratheon, eyes of green, gold of hair..."_

As he read about Joffrey something snapped in his mind, 'Gold of Hair' he thought as he started to examine every single Baratheon in the book, "Black of Hair, Black of Hair, Black of Hair..." every single one of them had the distinctive Baratheon traits, black of hair and eyes of blue, but Joffrey and Tommen were gold of hair and eyes of green. His thoughts started to erupt into every single explanation for the children of Robert not to have black hair, but none came to mind, Lannisters and Baratheons have married before but all of their children would be black of hair be the mother a Baratheon or the father a Baratheon. "Seven hells... how could this have happened", this revelation could be the start of another rebellion, but before he jumped to conclusions he had to be sure.

'I have to tell Robert, but what if he doesn't believe me"

 **Cregan's POV**

Cregan was called to The Hand's Tower, it appeared to be urgent so Cregan wasted no time getting there. As he approached the highest floor of the tower where The Hand resided he opened the door to the room to see his father writting some letters. "You called for me father", Eddard didn't even raise his head, he was still writting on the letters. "Cregan, come, sit" he pointed to a chair opposite of the table that he was writting the letters on. "Why did you call me here?", Eddard stopped writing and looked up to his son, his eyes tired, his face showing how stressed he really was. "Cregan, have you ever noticed anything weird about the king's children", his fathers words made Cregan raise an eyebrow in curiosity, "Father, what are you saying?" Cregan was always suspicious about Robert's children, he knew that they didn't have any of the Baratheon traits. "I believe that Tommen and Joffrey are not Robert's children". "So you've figured it out then" the sentence threw Cregan's father off guard, "I've had my suspicions, but I didn't want to say anything". "You knew?" Eddard was shocked at how much his son actually knew "Aye, I've known this for months, ever since I saw the queen in bed with another man". His father leaned back from the table, still in shock on how much information Cregan had gathered on the queen. "Who? Who was she with?", "Ser Jaime Lannister" Eddard jumped from the chair when he heard the news, "She's been sleeping with her brother?" his eyes widened as everything came to place, he heard rumours that the queen and her brother were close, very close. The simple thought made him sick to his stomach, he thanked the gods that Cregan and Sansa had no such relationship.

"You know what this means father..." Cregan interupted his fathers thoughts and continued "... The king has no legitimate heirs" as he said that Cregan pulled out a letter, engraved with the sigil of House Stark "What is that Cregan?" Eddard looked at the letter in Cregan's hands "A document, naming Lord Stannis Baratheon as the true heir to The Iron Throne until the king has a legitimate heir"

The two talked about the plan, Cregan suggested that Sansa, Arya and Lyarra be transported back to Winterfell, for their own safety, something that Eddard holeheartidly agreed with. They talked about this for an hour, every single man they trust, every man that would betray them, the amount of their household guard and how Robert could react to the news but before they could finish their plan Lord Renly barged into the room, covered in blood. "Lord Stark, it's the king..."

Renly told the two how the king went hunting, how he was drinking and how, before he could even react, was charged by a boar and struck, straight in his guts. "Where is he now?" Eddard jumped from the chair as he ran to Renly. "This way" Renly and Eddard ran to where the king was, leaving Cregan alone in the room, seemingly not reacting to the news, but Cregan already knew what was going to happen.

"Let's hope this reaches you in time Stannis", Cregan sent a raven informing Stannis of the news, hoping that the Lannisters aren't as ambitious as they seem.

After he sent the raven Cregan quickly ran to his chambers where his wolf was lying in wait for his master.

"Sif, I have a job for you..." those words made the wolf tilt his head in confussion and whimper. Cregan pulled out another letter, sealed with the same sigil of House Stark, from his pocket. The wolf continued to look confused as Cregan strapped a small pack on Sif and placed the letter in it, "I need you to run hard for Winterfell, do not stop for anything, understand me boy". The wolf whimpered, refusing to leave his masters side, "For the sake of my sisters and your sisters..." he started to slowly pat the wolf on the back "...there's no time for goodbyes" the moment Cregan mentioned Lady and Nymerya, Sif stopped whimpering, he wanted to protect his sisters, one of many things the two had in common. "Now go...", "...And don't stop, no matter what, you hear me", the moment Cregan opened the door Sif stared at him for a few more moments before breaking out into a run and dissapearing.

"I need to warn them... I need to"  
 ** _"You can't"_** a whisper echoed in his head

"I have to"  
 _ **"If you do, they will all die"** _ Cregan was chilled to the bone by the voice, completely frozen in place

 ** _"They will try to defend themselves, they will try to fight and they will be slaughtered"_** his eyes widened at the thought of Sansa, Arya and Lyarra's heads on spikes

"I can defend them... I can... I can... I can kill them all" his voice began to stutter, his eyes watering and his head starting to hurt

 _ **"Even you can't slaughter all of King's Landing"**_ a cold breeze slivered through the window

"No... no-no-no-no... I can- I CAN... I CAN K-"  
 ** _"No, you can't Cregan, and you know that, there's only one option left..."_**  
"What? What am I supposed to do?"

 _ **"Run..."**_

 **Sansa's POV**

The three girls, Sansa, Arya and Lyarra, just finished their sowing lessons and were now in Sansa's bechambers for their usual met ups. "Well that was boring" Arya spat out while jumping on the bed, spreading her arms and sinking inside the bed. "Do you honestly hate sowing that much?", "Yes Sansa, yes I do", Arya countered her sister with an angry response. "What's been happening with you and your dancing lessons anyway, you've been going to them twice as much these few days" Lyarra joined in on the conversation, her feet in the air as she was sitting on a chair, clearly to high for her. "I've been practising for when I stab that jerk Joffrey right in his cold, filthy, heart", Sansa and Lyarra raised an eyebrow as Arya got up from the bed. "But what does dancing have anything to do with... oh", Sansa was looking at the two younger girls dumbfoundedly, "What oh, what am I missing here?". Arya looked at her sister with a smirk before standing up and starting to go for her "dancing lessons".

When Arya left, Sansa and Lyarra were the only ones left in the room, "So what's going on with you and Triston?", Sansa turned from the door and took an apple from the fruit bowl on the table next to her passing it to the young girl.

"He's good company" Lyarra repeated the same words she said to Cregan about the same subject

"Just company" Sansa had a devilish grin on her face

"Yes, what else should he be?" Lyarra seemed genuenly dumbfounded at Sansa's comment, her eyebrows raised while she took a bite from the apple

"Oh, sweetie, your to innocent..." Sansa let out a giggle while Lyarra was still confused about their whole conversation

Note:  
Alright so I have good news and I have some bad news, first of all, the good news, I'm starting a new story, YAY (que the confety), I already have the story and main plotline of chapter 1 planned out and am startin to write it, but here's the bad news, I won't be able to upload new chapters as frequently (que the boos), HOWEVER, I will try to get atleast two chapters per week done, running simoultaneously with one story to another, I will trade quantity for quality over this situation so I hope nobody resent's me for that.

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time


	19. Chapter 18: The Bloodied Throne

**Chapter 18: Bloodied Throne**

 **Eddard's POV**

"Your son has no claim to the throne" In the middle of the throne room stood Eddard Stark, with Lord Petyr Baelish to his right and Ser Jory Cassel by his side, along with the entirety of his household guard and the goldcloaks. There weapons sheathed but ready for combat at any moment. "LIAR!" a childish screatch was heard coming from the throne room, Joffrey, who was sitting on The Iron Throne, the crown already on his head. "What makes you say this Lord Stark?" the queen said in her ever calm voice, clearly knowing what the situation was about. "Ser Barristan, you are one of the most honorable men in this room, please, read this" Eddard gave Ser Barristan a letter sealed with the sigil of House Baratheon on the seal. When Ser Barristan opened the letter his eyes widened, "Your grace", he handed ot the letter to the queen, not knowing what to do with this information. The queen glared at the letter for a few seconds before ripping it in shreds, making Ser Barristan raise his eyebrow in confusion. "That was the king's last will", "Your king is right here Ser Barristan", the queen wasn't even raising her tone, her voice stayed constant, calm, venom-like in her own certain way. "I do not want any bloodsheed Cersei, leave now and I will give you mercy", Eddard took a step forward as his household guard as well as all the goldcloaks unsheated their weapons. The queen smirked as she looked at the arrogant Lord. An eery silence beffell the hall, before the silence turned into one single command, "Now!". With the queen's command all of the goldcloaks turned to the Stark guards, their spears broke the moment they stabbed a guard, after that they pulled out their swords and continued the slaughter. As Eddard pulled out the hilt of his sword from his sheath he was meet by the feeling of cold stell near his neck.

"You shouldn't have ever trusted me Lord Stark"

 **Arya's POV**

Arya was busy training with her dancing instructor, Syrio Forrel, when a Stark soldier barged into the room they were training in. Before he could even utter a word a blade went through his throat, as the man fell the culprits began to enter the room, five soldiers, armed in Lannister uniforms, entered the room along with a man in a Kingsguard uniform. 'Meryn Trant' Arya looked to the man in golden plate armor, his sword in his right hand and his helm covering his face.

"What is the meaning of this? Where is Lord Eddard?"  
"Give us the girl"  
"No..."  
"I'll ask again... give, us, the girl"  
"If you want her, then you have to go through me"  
"Alright then... Kill them a-"

Before the knight could finish his command he found a long blade straight through his chest, piercing his heart and making him fall to the ground, "What in Seven Hells?!" on of the men screamed out as all of them turned around to see a man in black platemail and a half burnt face. "Seven hells!" One of the Lannister guardsmen cried out. One by one, the guardsmen fell to the man's blade, as his half-burnt face was showing no emotion, reminding Arya of her older brother.

"Who are you?" Arya's teacher asked, still holding a wooden sword in his signature water-dancing stance

"Someone who wants to help..." the man replied while wiping the blood off his sword on Ser Meryn's lifeless corpse

"You The Demon's little sister" the man looked down at Arya who was intimidated by his half dead stare

"I am..." she managed to squeak out at the man

The man reached out his hand towards the girl "Come with me, we have to get you out of here". "What? Why? Where's my father!?" she was desperate for answers about her father, her voice breaking at the thought of her being in danger. Before anyone could speak another word the footsteps of some dozen Lannister guardsmen were heard approaching the chambers. "Arya, go with him..." Syrio said in his usual calm voice while raising his sword. "What?! No, i'm not leaving without you!" Arya screamed out, tugging her sword-instructors hand, "Get her to safety", Syrio turned to the man in black platemail, giving him a small grin resulting in the man nodding his head and picking the girl up, getting her out of the room with Arya doing little to show any sort of dissagrement as she merely watched her dancing-instructor fending of the Lannisters with only a wooden sword.

 **Cregan's POV**

As all of that was happening, Cregan could only look at the Red Keep from far away while he was sneaking out of the city.

When he came to King's Landing just a few months ago he was granted knighthood, a squire and a position as The Red Keep's Master-at-Arms, now, he was sneaking out of this shit-pile of a city filled with greed and coruption uterly powerless when he could be helping his family. 'Father, Sansa, Arya, Lyarra... I'm sorry... I've failed all of you' Cregan thought to himself as he exited throught the gates of King's Landing.

 _ **'Death is inevitable Cregan...'**_ the same voice that had whispered to him just a few hours ago had once again appeared

 ** _'The more this goes on, the more people will die...'_** the voice was slivering through Cregan's spine, making him stumble a bit before regaining his composure

'I could have stopped all of this, I could have just killed that bitch and the sadist' he tried to go back, he wanted to, but he had to keep going, no matter what

 _ **'Yes, and they you would have been labeled a murderer once more'**_ the voice replied simply making Cregan look down at the ground in rage

 _ **'We have been preparing for this moment for years Cregan, now, we must fulfill our duty, so that your family can see the new summer'**_ the echo poured confidence into Cregan's mind, he stopped shaking and he started to walk up straigthly

'Aye... Winter will come for us all, but I'll be damned if I let it kill everyone I care about'

Cregan was wearing a black coat with a hood. The coat masked his blades with only his black Ironwood bow and arrows sticking out of the coat making him look like a hunter rather than a noble. He was carrying a satchel with only couple days forth of supplies in it, it was all he needed to get where he was going.

 _ **'Think they will be happy to see us again'**_  
'I know she'll be, but I don't really know about the rest of her family once word gets out'  
 _ **'Very well then... let's us go'**_

'And thus... It begins'

Note:  
Here's just a short chapter just to not keep you guys hanging for a new chapter, I am still working on the new story but fear not my fellow compadres that will just be a side story for whenever I have writers block for this one.

As always I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, thanky you all for the reviews follows and favorites and I will see you all next time


	20. Chapter 19: Family

**Chapter 19: Family**

 **Margaery's POV**

1 year earlier...

It was a cold, rainy, night. The sound of thunder clapping could be heard from the outside as heavy rain poured on the window. Margaery was fast asleep as she covered herself in her many blankets, making her feel even more cozy and safe in her chambers. She dreamt of being queen, of people cheering her name, of the crown on her head, but most importantly, she dreamt of helping people, of giving food to the hungry and replacing the filthy streets that smelled of shit and piss with flourishing markets where children could run and play, where people would come from all over the world to trade, to flourish. All Margaery ever wanted to do was to make Westeros a better place for everyone and the only way to do that was to become queen. But one thing was keeping her from that dream, the man she loved.

In the middle of the night Margaery woke up to see Cregan sitting next to the window, staring into the distance. "Leaving already?" Margaery's eyes were still half-closed, her voice was soft and her smile was barely visible as she was still feeling tired. "Sorry, I didn't want to wake you" Cregan turned to Margaery, who was still lying on the bed, the blankets hiding her naked body. "It's still late, you should get some rest", Cregan had a warm expression as he got back to the bed and lied next to her. "We haven't slept much this past week have we?" Margaery placed her hand on Cregan's cheek as the two embraced each other and fell quickly asleep.

 _"I love you..."_ she whispered to Cregan's ear as her eyes slowly closed and she returned to sleep

 **Sansa's POV**

As the clash of steel was heard throughout The Red Keep all Sansa could do was lock herself and Lyarra in her chambers. "Sansa, what's happening? What's going on?" Lyarra asked her in confusion while trying to keep her voice as low as she could, "Listen to me Lyarra, we have to stay quiet, don't open that door no matter what, you hear me", Lyarra gave only a slight nod as Sansa hugged the poor girl to try to keep her calm, "Don't worry sweetie, you'll be safe, I promise you".  
A full thirty minutes passed and the screams still didn't die down, Lyarra tried to hold back her tears but to no avail, Sansa was consoling her during the entire time "Shh, shh, it's going to be okay Lyarra, it's going to be okay". She couldn't show any fear in front of the young girl, seeing as how Lyarra's cheeks were already covered in tears.

Suddenly, pounding could be heard on the door, "Open up", one of the men called out. The two stayed silent as Sansa took out a small stilleto knife from her luggage bag, complements from her brother, and prepared for a struggle. "This is your last warning, open this bloody door or we-, who in seven hells are you" the man yelled out before he was meet with an unknown person's sword in his chest, "You little shit!" the other man yelled out as he saw his comrade fall before him until he meet the same fate.

"My lady, please, open the door, we need to get out of here, NOW" a different voice was heard now that the two men were killed. At first, the two hesitated but after a few moments of silence they opened the door. "Triston!?" Lyarra squeaked out as she jumped to hug her old friend.

"Triston... your Cregan's squire aren't you?!"  
"Yes, my lady, i'm here to help"  
"What's happening? Where's my brother?"  
"Gone my lady"  
"What?!"  
"There's not time my lady we have to get out of here!"

With that Triston pulled the two girls by the hand as they made their way through The Red Keep, running past many fights as well as dead soldiers. Lyarra looked at the sight in pure shock, her eyes completely wide as she stared at the dozens of lifeless faces of both Stark and Lannister soldiers.

When they reached the dungeons Triston pushed away a large boulder to reveal a secret passageway leading to the docks, "How did you know about this Triston?" Sansa was glaring at the stone tunnel with a beam of light at the end, still holding on to Lyarra, still trying to keep her from passing out from shock of what she just saw. "King's Landing has many secrets my lady, people will spend years searching for a passageway like this and even when they would find one there will surely be over hundred more, this is one of those entrances".

Triston, Sansa and Lyarra continued to make their way through the passageway and when they finally got to the end a single ship was waiting for them at the docks.

"This ship will take us to Riverun my lady"  
"I'm not going anywhere without my brother"  
"My lady, Cregan has already left, I don't know where he went to"  
"But then, why are you helping us?"  
"Lord Cregan told me to help you two whenever danger would be near"  
"Cregan knew this would happen?"  
"Yes my lady, at least I think he did, now please we don't have much time"

With that Triston lead the two to the small ship, it's crew consisted of Riverlands traders and Tully guardsmen, clearly ready for any danger. "Lady Sansa, we have made a cabin for you and your friend" one of the Tully guardsmen, who seemed to be wearing the armor of the knight, spoke up as they all bowed to their lords grandaughter. "Thank you, Ser...", "Ser Duncan my lady, at your service" Sansa courtsied the middle-aged knight and gave him a smile as Triston led them to their room.

"Thank you Triston, could please leave us now, I think Lyarra needs some time to rest up"  
"Of course my lady, I'll be outside if you two need anything"

Before Triston could leave, a thought snapped into Sansa's mind...

"Wait Triston, Arya, Lady and Nymeria, what happened to them?"  
"Lady Arya managed to escape as well, as for the direwolves, I managed to free them from their pens, they escaped my lady"

Triston's words made Sansa breathe a sigh of relief knowing that her sister and their direwolves managed to escape

"That is all Triston... thank you, for everything"  
"Of course my lady"

As Triston left the room, Sansa led Lyarra to the bed for her to sit down and regain her composure, "Is Cregan going to be alright?" Lyarra asked her with her still teary eyes looking directly at Sansa's own eyes. "He'll be fine sweetie, you don't need to worry about him", Lyarra's eyes sparked with a bit of hope until her expression darkened again, "But... all of those men were dead... what if Cregan was one of them" Lyarra clearly wasn't listening to Triston as they were going through the tunnel, all Sansa could do is kiss the girl on the forehead and hug her tightly "Don't worry, there isn't a man alive who could take Cregan down", "Really?", Sansa didn't answer the girl but only gave her a warm motherly smile as she continued to comfort the still tramutaised girl.

Even though Sansa was showing no signs of concern all she could focus on was the thought of her father being one of the many bodies they ran past. But she couldn't show weakness, not now, not in front of Lyarra. She turned her thoughts to the squire that saved them, Triston. At first, she was not trusting to the young boy, thinking he was just another Lannister man in disguise, she was even more distrusting of him when he said that Cregan trusted him with the safety of his sisters. Cregan had trust issues, not believing in anyone except those he had known for years, but now he was trusting the lifes of both her and Lyarra to a boy he knew for only a couple of weeks. 'If Cregan trusts you then I guess I can too' she though to herself as she looked at the door of her room until felling that Lyarra had fallen asleep in her arms.

She gently leaned Lyarra on the bed, covering her with the sheats and putting some pillows beneath her head.

'Don't worry sweetie, I won't let anything happen to you'

Note:  
Alright people, Chapter 20, tell me, what do you guys think of this Sansa? Is she better than in the show or books? Is she too strong? Am I just a stupid man who is to sexist and thinks women should be weak and submissive? I DON'T KNOW I'M HOPPED UP ON CAFFEINE RIGHT NOW AND AM ABOUT TO THROW UP FROM THE EXTREME AMOUNT OF RED BULL I JUST DRANK... God bless America. (Lifts his 50th can of Red Bull)

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites and I will see you all next time.


	21. Chapter 20: Duty

**Chapter 20: Duty**

 **Arya's POV**

It's been two weeks since the battle in The Red Keep, Arya and The Hound were traveling on Stranger, The Hound's own horse, throughout the Crownlands. Ever since they left, the journeys have consisted of long rides throughout the countryside, mostly silent with both of them not talking to each other, and the occasional stop to rest and gather food. One day, as they were traveling, Arya tried to break the silence "You never did tell me why you saved me", The Hound only continued to stare into the distance until letting out a sigh, "I'm gonna ransom you to your grandfather in The Riverlands". "But why? You could have just left me to Joffrey", Arya raised an eyebrow still curious why the now crowned kings own bodyguard would defy him, but The Hound only continued to stare. "Were still atleast two weeks aways from Riverrun, do you honestly want us to spend that whole time in silence or do you want us to talk", Arya quipped at the man who despite that was still staring at the distance without a word.

"Silence it is then..."

 **Robb's POV**

"He did what!"  
"My lord, please, calm down"  
"He imprisons my father then expects me to kiss his ass!"  
"My lord what are we supposed to do? He is the king"

Robb paused for a moment, despite him dreading it, he knew Maester Luwins words were true, but he also knew that his father would never do such a dishonorable act. He refused to believe that Eddard Stark, a paragon of virtue, the pinacle of Stark honor, his own father, would commit treason against his best friends own son. Robb looked at Theon who was still confused at the news they just got before turning back to Maester Luwin.

"If he wants me to go to King's Landing, then I'll go"  
"My lord?"  
"I'll go to King's Landing, and I'm bringing the entirity of The North with me"  
"My lord are you suggesting-"  
"Call the banners Maester Luwin"  
"Yes, my lord"

Maester Luwin took a bow and emediately left to send the ravens. Robb and Theon were now the only ones left in the room. As Robb sat back down Theon looked at him with a grin, "You scared?" Theon asked him with Robb only lifting his hand from his left leg to reveal it shaking, "Guess I am", Theon's grin only widened then, "Good" Theon stated plainly with Robb raising an eyebrow in confusion, "How is that good?", Theon's grin turned into a sly smile, "Means your not stupid" The two let out a small chuckle before finishing their drinks and continued talking casualy about a monumental decision. "So what do you think happened to your brother and sisters?" Theons question emediately made Robb start thinking...

"Sansa and Arya are to valuable to kill, so they will probably take them hostage..."  
"And Cregan?"  
"We'll Joffrey's still breathing so Cregan's either dead or he's escaped"  
"What about Lyarra?"  
"Her, I honestly don't know, I just hope she's safe"

 **Cregan's POV**

Red skies...  
Bloody river...  
Screaming children...  
The howl of wolves...

Cregan was lying in a field of golden roses, although most of them were now painted with blood. The air was drenched with the smell of rotting flesh but all Cregan did was stare into the sky. When he tried to get up Cregan felt vines entangling his right arm, the thorns gripping him tighter with every second he struggled to get out. After moments of agonizing pain Cregan ripped of his arm but strangely, the pain stopped. Blood drippped from where his arm should be, he expected to scream in agony but there was nothing, no pain. **_"Strange isn't it?"_** a familliar voice came from behind him as Cregan turned to see a man clad in plate silver armor. "I was expecting to see _'him'_ again" Cregan was still holding onto where his arm should be, his face not showing any emotons as usual.

 _ **"Sorry to dissapoint you, but we need to talk"** _

"We have nothing more to talk about"  
 _ **"Cregan, you have to stop living in the present and start thinking of the future"**_  
"And that future needed me to abandon my family in that shithole of a city?"  
"I could have killed every single one of those bastards and saved my father, now, now he's rotting in the black cells, waiting for his execution"  
 _ **"For the last time Cregan, you couldn't, you would have died, stop being so damn ignorant already!"**_

Cregan couldn't bare the thought of anyone in his family being hurt, but he also knew that there were things bigger than him, bigger than the Iron Throne, he just needed to figure out what it was.

"So what did you want to talk about?"  
 ** _"I think we talked enough, It's time I show you what needs to be seen"_**

Without warning, the armored man approached Cregan and placed two fingers on his forehead. Suddenly, a flash of white enveloped Cregan's sight until a single image came. Cregan and Margaery, but something was different about them, they seemed to be older and Margaery... was holding a child.

"That's... that's..."  
 ** _"That's your daughter Cregan, yours and Margaery's"_**  
"Mine... and Margaery's..."  
 ** _"This is your future Cregan, but first you must fight for it"_**

With that the image dissapeared, snow engulfing him and the armored man's voice fading away only to be replace by the sounds of battle. Cregan opened his eyes to see him standing in the midst of a battle, swords in hand and his direwolf Sif by his side. "Cregan! Stop standing there, we need to get past them NOW!" Cregan heard a voice coming from his right shoulder only to turn and see his brother Jon and his direwolf Ghost standing beside him. In front of them was an army of undead charging forward, behind them, the combined force of all of Westeros. "CHARGE!" Jon commanded, raising his valyrian steel sword as millions of soldiers, Westerlanders, Stormlanders, Valemen, Northmen, Dornishmen, Ironborn, Rivelanders and Reachmen all mixed together, charged with swords in hand. Cregan followed his brother as he placed Frostbite atop his shoulder and pointed Demonsteel forward. As the two armies charged at each other a large shadow overcame all of them but no one paid attention to it, the thing from the sky roared before spitting fire towards the entire undead army. The moment Cregan clashed blades with his first opponent everything turned black.

 ** _"7 years... you have 7 years Cregan"_**

Note:  
So as I was writing this I noticed I haven't writen any dream sequences for like... hang on... 1,2,3,... 11! 11 FUCKING CHAPTERS. So here's a dream sequence. Also, I feel like this is important to note, Cregan doesn't remember his dreams, he only remembers parts of the dreams, usualy the most traumatic parts, that's why he doesn't talk about it to much or think about when he's awake.

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, thank you for all the reviews,follows and favorites and I will see you all next time.


	22. Chapter 21: Honor

**Chapter 21: Honor**

 **Eddard's POV**

Eddard had been in the black cells for weeks, although those weeks felt like months in there. Rats scuried around him, Eddard could feel some of them nipping on his legs but all he could do was wave them off as no light could be found in the cells. He was fed only a loaf of bread and some water once a day, no visitors, only darkness. During the time he had spent here all he could think about was his children, Were they killed? Did they escape? Are they in another cell like him?, all of those thought ran through his mind. No one was coming for him, honor could not prevail this time, Eddard knew this. As he continued to wallow in the dungeons and wave off the occasional rat that tried to continue chewing on one of his legs, the door to his cell opened to see a familiar face in an unfimiliar outfit. "Lord Varys?" Eddard looked at the man, still trying to figure out who the man actually was.

"It's good to see you are well my lord, well, as good as a man can be in the black cells..."

 **Sansa's POV**

Sansa spent the next few days barely sleeping. Occupying most of her time taking care of Lyarra, who now had a fever. "No... I'm... okay..." Lyarra was still trying to be strong but it was obvious how sick she was, she was shivering all the time, her hands were cold but she was burning up. "Easy, easy sweetie, you can't be straining yourself" Sansa was trying to ease the girls pain, doing whatever she can to help her. "No... I can still..." Lyarra whimpered while still shivering from head to toe, "Lyarra, you need rest, once we get to Riverrun we'll have the maester take a look at you, alright?", "O-ok... I'll rest...". With that the girl lied back on her bed as Sansa covered her in as many sheets as she could to make her warm. As Lyarra quickly fell asleep Sansa did what her mother would always do whenever she or her other siblings would become sick. She started sowing a circle of the seven, or six to be more precise, thinking that The Stranger could be left well away from Lyarra. She tried replicating her mothers worksmanship but despite that it was still flimsy. The Mother's arms were dangling, The Warriors head was all but missing and Sansa forgot to sew on The Maidens left leg. 'Look's like I still need some practice' Sansa sighed as she looked at the poorly made circle yet she still hung it over the bed hoping that it would help her either way. "I wish I could do more for you sweetie but sadly this is the best I can do no", as she hung the circle over the bed, she heard a knock coming from the doors of her room.

"Come in"

When the doors opened Triston entered the room holding a platter with food,drinks and a bottle of Milk of The Poppy. "My lady, I thought this would help Lyarra until we get to Riverrun" Triston placed the platter on the table and picked up the Milk of The Poppy. "Thank you Triston, I can take of the rest", Sansa seemed to barely be able to speak, she was obviously exhausted, her eyes were weary and her hair was a mess. "My lady, if you don't mind me saying, perhaps you should get some rest" Triston notices all of these things and tried to convice Sansa to stop overekserting herself but to no avail with her only shaking her head.

"No, Lyarra needs me"  
"My lady, you can't help her if you suddenly pass out from exhaustion"  
"I can't leave her Triston, and I'm not going to"  
"Of- of course my lady... If you two need anything I'll be outside"  
"Thank you Triston"

As Triston left the room Sansa continued to try and stay awake, doing whatever she can to keep herself busy. While drinking some water from the platter that Triston brought in Sansa took a quick glance at the sick little girl. Her long black hair and blue amethyst eyes reminded her of her half-brother Jon. She always did feel guilty for not connecting to him like her other siblings, 'It wasn't right for a noble lady to be seen with a bastard' that's what she would always tell herself but deep down she knew that was all a load of crap. But when Cregan brought a young girl, injured, dirty and without her parents to Winterfell she promised to herself that she wouldn't distance herself like she did with Jon. The thought of her brother made her let out a slight giggle, 'Cregan you righteous prick, why did you have to make me so self-concious'.

 **Cregan's POV**

Cregan was sprinting throughout the forest, his footsteps were muffled as to not attract any unwanted attention. He had been running for hours now, staying clear from the road and stopping only to eat,drink and sleep. This had been his daily routine ever since he left King's Landing, he would eat only a loaf of bread and take only a couple sips of water, sleep wasn't much of an event either as he would only rest for 2 to 3 hours a day, all of these things had consiquences though. The bread and water had been only enough to keep him from completely starving but he still felt malnourished, three hours of sleep also caused him to almost pass out a couple of times but he couldn't stop, no matter what.

 _ **'We are approaching Stormlands territory, there shouldn't be any Lannister men here'**_  
'And if the rumors are true Renly is taking a claim for the throne'  
 _ **'With both The Tyrells and most of The Stormlands by his side'**_  
'...Margaery...'  
 ** _'You'll see her soon enough Cregan, right now you need to focus on getting to them first'_**

As Cregan continued to silently dash through the woods he came across an inn, one thing was off about it though, it was filled with Lannister men.

 ** _'Cregan, we have to keep moving'_**  
'Ten barely armed men, drunk and on the brink of passing out but drunk men are also easily angered men'  
 ** _'This is not our problem Cregan, we have to move, now'_**  
'You said it yourself, this is Stormlands territory, these are Lannister men, what do you think to the'll do to them once their finished whoring and drinking'

'I need to help them'

With that Cregan jumped down from the tree that he climbed up on to get a better look at the inn. It wasn't much to marvel at, the inn was a plain wooden lodge with a small stables for any horses and kennels for the two dogs that lived there. Inside the inn laughs from the Lannister men could be heard. Cregan slowly opened the wooden door and when he entered the lodge he saw the ten Lannister men singing a familiar tune...

 _'And who, are you, the proud lord said'_  
 _'That I must bow so low'_  
 _'In a coat of gold, or a coat of red, a lion still has claws'_  
 _'And mine are long and sharp my lord, as long and sharp as yours'_  
 _'And so he spoke, and so he spoke, that lord of Castamere...'_

"...And now the rains weep 'or their halls, without a soul to hear" before they could finish Cregan interrupted them all but instead of singing the words he only said them in his usual emotionless tone causing all of them to turn around instantly. "And just who the fuck are you?" one of the Lannister men, who had the serving girl on his lap, said, clearly still drunk. "Let the girl go" Cregan took a step forward towards the Lannister men and place a hand on Demonsteel. "Well, well, well" another Lannister man stood up and started to walk towards Cregan with a smirk

"We have ourselves a hero, lads" the Lannister turned back to his other men, he seemed to be the leader of the band as he was much better equipped than the others "Tell you what, we'll let you have her once we have our fun, that sound okay?" the man's friends all let out a chuckle as one of them placed a hand on the serving girl's breasts

Cregan still wasn't potraying any emotions but his eyes were shifting beetwen the serving girl, who was struggling not to scream or cry, and the Lannister bands leader. "Last warning, let the girl go, or else..." Cregan's voice was still calm and collected while the leader took another step forward towards Cregan, "And just what the fuck ar-". Before the Lannister soldier could say another word Cregan grabbed him by the neck, lifted him up into the air and slammed him down onto the ground. The man couldn't breathe as he was being choked by Cregan, his hand squishing the man's throat before, with only one move, Cregan broke his neck.

"SEVEN HELLS!" one of the men screamed out before they all grabbed whatever weapon was nearest to them and charged at Cregan. The first man was running towards Cregan had a flimsy kitchen knife but before he could even take a stab at him Cregan broke the man's arm and took the dagger from him,Cregan then spun around and sliced his throat. The men all froze at the sight, their faces frozen with fear as they finnaly realised who they were fighting "It's h-h-him IT'S THE DEMON". With that all of the Lannister men that were still alive fled as fast as they could, screaming in terror.

"Are you okay?" he turned to the serving girl that was busy covering herself and an older man who seemed to be the owner of the inn beside her. "Who- who are you?" the serving girl asked, still shocked by all the events. "Just a man who is willing to defend those who can't defend themselves" Cregan had the smallest hint of a smile as he offered the girl a hand to get up. "Thank you Ser, I don't know how we can-" The older man started to talk but before he could finish he was cut off by Cregan "Don't, you people have already suffered enough from those bastards". With that Cregan looked at the amount of food and drinks the Lannister men had most probably stolen and threw a small pouch of gold coins at the tavern keeper "Here, this should be enough for what they took". Both the tavern keeper and the serving girl were confused about the situation but before they could even let out a word Cregan had dissapeared, leaving them to think about what had just happened.

 _ **'We'll that was... interesting'**_  
'If there were Lannister men this far into the Stormlands, then Renly's not taking this seriously'  
 _ **'Then I guess we should get to him as fast as possible'**_  
 _ **'Why did you help them?'**_  
'Was I supposed to let the girl be raped?'  
 _ **'It doesn't matter how much you want to deny it, honor still means as much to you as your family does'**_  
'Guess it does'  
 _ **'You Starks are all the same'**_

Note:  
Here's a bit of a longer chapter for you all just because I was in the mood for some longer writting

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, thank you for all the reviews favorites and follows and I will see you all next time


	23. Chapter 22: In Love and War

**Chapter 22: In Love and War**

It has been two months since Cregan had escaped from King's Landing and after weeks of traveling he had finnaly arrived at Renly's camp, or rather King Renly now.

After his brothers death, Renly had made his claim for the throne as the rightfull king. Ignoring the right of succesion that made his older brother Stannis the heir. At the same time, Stannis also made his claim but had much less followers as Renly was the more liked of the two. Renly's army was numbering at about 100,000 with the combined force of both The Reach and The Stormlands. Stannis, on the other hand had a much smaller force, around 5,000 consisting mostly of houses that had a sense of duty or ones like House Florent, who were married into Stannis's family. If he was like Eddard, Cregan would have instantly sided with Stannis, but he was not like his father, he was able to look past his honor to see that in a full out battle Renly would be a clear winner.

The camp was filled with a mix of Reachmen and Stormlanders, the banner of a golden stag with a thorned crown in a field of blue littered the entire encampent. Everyone was eyeing down the black cloaked, auburn-haired man, his skin was pale and his face was slightly dirty. Most of The Reachmen recognised Cregan instantly and gave him a respectfull bow with the Stormlanders looking at them in confusion, whispering among themselves asking why all the plated knights were bowing to a poor-looking hunter, the only Reach house that wasn't bowing to him were the members of House Tarly, who still held a grudge against The Demon.

In the middle of the encampment a small meele was being held with Renly sitting in a makeshift throne atop a wooden scaffold and beside him was Margaery, looking as radiant as ever. Everyone was cheering on the two knights that were battling in the middle. One was a six foot two knight in bronze plate armor and was wielding a morningstar, the other was a smaller knight in silver armor adorned with three metal roses of House Tyrell on his chest, 'Must be Loras' Cregan thought to himself as he looked at the silver knight that was currently being bashed down by the taller and clearly stronger knight. In mere moments Loras was lying on the dirt and yielded the match to the other knight. After a few moments of silence Renly started to clap alongside his usual friendly smile. "Well done, very well done", as Renly stopped clapping the knight took a knee and pulled off the helmet that was covering the knights face to reveal not a man but the Maid of Tarth, Brienne.

"That was an impressive performance Lady Brienne, I've seen Ser Loras beaten once or twice but never in such a manner" Renly continued

"Name whatever reward you desire and I will do everything in my power to make it true" Renly continued to smile as Brienne answered him

"Your grace, I wish to become part of your Rainbow Guard so I may protect you"  
"Very well then, rise, Brienne of The Rainbow Guard"

As both Loras and Brienne got up, Loras standing up from the dirt while Brienne stopped kneeling. Cregan watched all of this, glad at the fact that there were women, other than the ones in The North, who were willing to stand above the prejudice that has been built up in Westeros. When Renly turned to Margaery he saw her staring into the crowd, obviously noticing something he hasn't. Renly then looked at the crowd and noticed Cregan standing amongst them.

"Ser Cregan, by the Gods it is good to see you are well" Renly let out a chuckle as everyone turned to Cregan, finnaly noticing who he actualy was

"Your grace, my lady" Cregan bowed his head to both Renly and Margaery, his tone was softer than usual yet his face was as stern as ever

"Cregan, I'm glad that you are in good health" Margaery finnaly spoke up, her voice was warm and welcoming and a good change from the silence he experienced during his travels

"Thank you my lady, it is good to see you too" Cregan expression was now also softer but turned quickly back to his usual stoic face as he turned back from her

"What brings you here Ser, if I may ask? Have you come to join our cause?" Renly started to talk again as he caught Cregan's attention

"Actualy your grace, if you would not mind, I would like to speak to you in private" with that, whispers started to travel throughout the crowd, mostly from The Stormlanders, who were still suspicious about the fabled Demon of The North. "Your grace, perhaps that is not the best decision" one of the members of The Rainbow Guard, Robar Royce, whispered to Renly's ear, also being not to trusting of Cregan. "It is fine Ser Robar" Renly quickly dismissed the knight in a red cloak and started to make his way towards his tent with Cregan, Margaery and his Rainbow Guard following suit.

As they made their way to Renly's tent Cregan looked at the Stormlander footmen, wrapped in a mix of boiled leather and plate shoulders, armed with hammers, maces, swords and battleaxes. Alongside them were Reach soldiers, a combination of infantry, cavalry and archers, all armed with the best armor and weapons. "You seem to be interested in our soldiers Ser Cregan" Renly noticed Cregan's looks towards his men and wanted to break the silence.

"Your men seem to be enjoying themselves your grace"  
"We are trying to keep in high spirits, something that these times are obviously lacking"  
"Aye, but these are soldiers of summer your grace, they aren't prepared for the coming winter"  
"As you Starks like to always remind us, _Winter is Coming_ "  
"Aye that's one of the sayings, have you heard of the second one?"  
"No, I haven't"  
 _"Sooner or later, a Stark is always right"_

When they finnaly arrived at Renly's tent Brienne of Tarth, the Blue, Lord Bryce Caron, the Orange, Ser Emmon Cuy, the Yellow, Ser Guyard Morrigen, the Green, Ser Parmen Crane, the Purple and Ser Robar Royce, the Red all stood guard in front of the tent while Renly, Margaery, Loras and Cregan all entered to speak. "Now, what did you want to talk about Ser Cregan", Renly walked up to a fruit bowl and picked up a fresh peach as Loras stood vigilantly guarding his king and Margaery took a seat near Cregan as he did the same.

"I heard that you gathered the support of both The Reach and The Stormlands and was interested to see why that was, I see why now"  
"I doupt you came here just to confirm a rumor, what was the real reason you came here"  
"Your grace, you are known as a skilled fighter, respected among the lords and loved by the smallfolk, you are not your brothers, you are someone I would be happy to serve"

Cregan's statement made everyone widen their eyes, especially Margaery. She knew that Cregan was never one for big statements, but here he was, pledging fealty to Renly. "As much as I am honored by that statement, you will have to forgive me if I am skeptical" Renly regained his composure as he looked directly at Cregan before Loras started to speak "Your grace, I can vouch for Cregan, he is one of best fighters in Westeros and his honor and courage is unparraleled" Loras made Renly raise an eyebrow in interest as Margaery also joined in the conversation, "Dear husband, Loras is speaking the truth, we've known Cregan for years and he has never done anything dishonorable".

After a few moments of thought, Renly finnaly spoke again "Ser Cregan, I accept you offer". With that Cregan stood up from his chair, unsheathed his two blades before stabbing both of them into ground and bowed before Renly, "Your grace, my swords are yours"

"Very well then... Rise, _Ser Cregan of The Rainbow Guard_ "

Note:

Alright, some major point I have to point out. First, I am going to screw up the chronological events like you could not imagine so expect a lot of scenes happening before or after others in the show and books. Second, Robb has not claimed himself KING IN THE NORTH yet (I don't know why I had to put that in all capital letters but fuck it were rolling with it) and the only claimants right now are Stannis, Renly and Joffrey. And finnaly, third, the next chapters are going to be in The Clash of Kings arc (Yes I'm calling them arcs DEAL WITH IT) with the first few chapters being Cregan in the service of Renly Baratheon. And now here are the ages of all the (still living) characters in A Clash of Kings:

House Stark:

Robb Stark: 19 years old

Cregan & Sansa Stark: 17 years old

Arya Stark: 13 years old

Bran Stark: 10 years old

Rickon Stark: 6 years old

Catelyn Stark: 36 years old

Lyarra: 6 years old

Triston Stone: 13 years old

House Baratheon:

Stannis Baratheon: 32 years old

Shireen Baratheon: 10 years old

Selyse Baratheon: 32 years old

Renly Baratheon: 20 years old

House Tyrell:

Ollena Tyrell: 66 years old

Mace Tyrell: 47 years old

Willas Tyrell: 28 years old

Garlan Tyrell: 24 years old

Loras Tyrell: 20 years old

Margaery Tyrell: 17 years old

House Lannister:

Tywin Lannister: 66 years old

Jaime & Cersei Lannister: 36 years old

Tyrion Lannister: 30 years old

Joffrey Baratheon/Lannister/Hill: 18 years old

Myrcella Baratheon/Lannister/Hill: 14 years old

Tommen Baratheon/Lannister/Hill: 10 years old

These are the ages I have made in the fanfiction so it means that some characters are younger (like Margaery) or older (like Jaime and Cersei) than in the show and books.

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.


	24. Chapter 23: The Grey

**Chapter 23: The Grey**

Cregan was now a member of Renly's Rainbow Guard. Although seven swords have already been picked, Renly could not refuse Cregan and thus was granted his own title, The Grey. Renly had also ordered the smiths for Cregan to have his own personal armor. The armor was a mixture of boiled leather and platemail, the leather being in the chest area and the platemail covering his upper chest, shoulders and arms. Another thing that came with the position of The Rainbow Guard was a cloak that showed people what color they represented, this was not the thing with Cregan. Since the seven colours of the rainbow have already been picked out and the fact that Renly did not want lose one of his Rainbow Guard, they came up with a compromise, Cregan was granted his own position and was given a grey cloak, simbolising the ancestral colours of House Stark.

During all these years of 'hunting' he had gain the favor of the smallfolk from The North, The Reach and The Crownlands. Now that he was in the service of King Renly his renown only grew and the smallfolk openly cheered his name but not by the name that he was given, The Demon of The North, but by the names he was now called Ser Cregan Stark, The Grey, The Protector, Lionsbane, The Knight of Winterfell.

He had been in The Rainbow Guard for only a couple of days but his previous deeds had made him instantly more loved and respected than even The Knight of Flowers. Most of those days were spent by merely following and guarding Renly and whatever free time he had he would spend training, since it had been almost two months since he had properly trained as well as the fact that he had become slower in combat. His relationship with the other Rainbow Guard was a bit more complicated though. Cregan could get along with Loras very well but the others still weren't so trusting of him. Brienne of Tarth was the most suspicious about him, not being able to trust someone with such an infamous reputation.

 **Robb's POV**

Robb was still gathering the banners, deciding for everyone to meet in Moat Cailin rather than Winterfell. All of the banners have been called upon, Houses Glover, Umber, Mormont, Karstark, Bolton, Dustin, Manderly and Forrester had already arrived with some minor Houses still not getting there.

One day, while waiting for the rest of The Northern army Robb had seen something he thought he would never see again. His younger siblings direwolves Sif, Lady and Nimerya traveling together. The moment he saw them Grey Wind ran to his brother and Sisters and the four nuzzled beetwen each other. Robb did the same. He ran to the direwolves and petted all of them, but this unsetled Robb, if their direwolves were this far North then that means that something happened to his brother and sisters. His smile soon turned into a worried expression as many Northern soldiers ran to defend their liege lord who was surrounded by four wolves. "My lord get out of there!" one of the men yelled out but all of them were dismissed by Robb who wasn't in any danger amidst the wolves. As he continued to pet all of the wolves Sif tugged his legs only for Robb to notice his satchel that was attached to his back.

Robb opened the satchel to see a letter sealed with the sigil of House Stark. He opened the letter and read it's contents:

 _Robb, if your reading this then Sif has made it to you,_  
 _Know that Sansa, Arya and Lyarra are safe, they should be in Riverrun by the time you get there,_  
 _Father however is not safe, he is most likely a prisoner_

 _I am writting this just to let you know, you musn't go to King's Landing_

 _As well,_

 _You must not take any sides in this war, no matter what_

 _Focus on defending The Riverlands but do not go on the offensive_

 _I know I am asking much from you but you must trust me,_  
 _For yours and for our families sake._

 _Cregan_

After he had read the letter, Robb turned to his men and finnaly spoke to them, "Get my mother, we must inform her emediately", he spoke while walking back towards the castle, the direwolves following suit.

"Inform her of what my lord?"  
"Just send her to the main hall, now"  
"Yes my lord, right away"

 **Sansa's POV**

Sansa and Lyarra had finnaly arrived at Riverrun. Both of them have obviously been distressed by the events that happened in the capital. Sansa was a mess, her eyes were baggy from lack of sleep and her entire face could only express exhaustion. Despite those things, Lyarra seemed worse, her skin was pale, she could barely walk and her shivering had gotten worse. When they arrived the two girls needed help getting off the boat, Sansa was leaning on Triston while the knight, Ser Duncan, needed to carry Lyarra out of the boat, her legs becoming to weak to walk.

When they got off the boat they were greeted by Sansa's uncle Edmure and Brynden 'The Blackfish' Tully. "Uncle..." Sansa managed to let out a single word before hugging Edmure and then her grand-uncle Brynden. "Sansa, it's good to see your safe" her uncle said in soft voice before Sansa gave both of the men a smile, being to tired to say another word. Brynden was the first of the two to notice the little girl being carried by Ser Duncan. "And who are you lass?" Brynden came closer to the girl but she was to weak to even speak now, her eyes were half closed and it seemed she was on the verge of passing out. "This is Lyarra my lord, Lord Eddard's ward" Ser Duncan spoke for Lyarra who finnaly managed to let out two single words, "It... It hurts...", her voice was nothing but a small whisper a she started to shiver again. "Uncle, she needs a maester, now" Sansa spoke, her voice was louder now as she to walked to Lyarra and placed a hand on the girl's forehead. When she touched her forehead Sansa's eyes widened, "She's gotten worse...". Brynden emediately snapped into action, "Then we need to get the lass to a maester right away, Duncan, I'll take over from here", the knight only nodded as Brynden took the girl from his arms and ran towards the main hall with Snasa trying to follow him but was stopped by her uncle.

"Sansa, you need rest"  
"I need to be by her side"  
"She'll be fine Sansa, I'm more worried about you"  
"But-"  
"No but's, your going to get some rest, that's final"

Sansa sighed after a few moments of struggling with her uncle and nodded her head in aggrement. "Uncle, this is Triston, Cregan's squire", Sansa looked towards the young boy who had saved them with Triston only bowing to her uncle. "Triston, eh? So your the one who rescued my niece" Edmure took a step towards Triston and looked him directly in the eye. "Yes my lord" Triston stopped bowing and looked back at Edmure. "Well for that, I thank you" Edmure reached out his hand with Triston grabbing it and the two exchanged a handshake. "Now, we need to get you to your chambers little lady" Sansa leaned on her uncle as they too started to make their way to the centre of Riverrun.

When they finnaly got to Sansa's chambers Edmure let go of Sansa as she then procceded to lean on Triston, "I need to see where Brynden went, Sansa are you going to be okay?" Edmure asked his niece, still worried about her. "I'll be fine uncle, besides, I have Triston guarding me" Sansa's words made Triston give out a small smile of content as he started to lead her into her chambers.

When they entered the room Triston let go of Sansa who emediately laid down on her bed

"My lady if you need anything-"  
"Yes, I know, you'll be outside"  
"Very well then my lady"  
"Triston, wait..."  
"Yes my lady?"  
"If you get any news of Lyarra, tell me emediately"  
"I will my lady"

Triston then left the room as Sansa laid back on the bed, her thoughts still pinned on the sickly Lyarra and whether or not she'll recover but after only a few seconds on the soft bed and warm sheets did she fall asleep and stop worrying.

 **Cregan's POV**

It was early morning and Cregan was equipping himself in his armor and grey cloak. He buckled his two blades on his back as he left his tent to find Renly. While traveling through the camp he heard cheers coming from the centre again, 'Another meele?' Cregan thought before confirming his thought. He saw the same scene like before, Renly and Margaery sitting on a wooden scaffold, a crowd cheering on the fight but this time it was a mix of armed soldiers and smallfolk as the camp was near a holdfast, in the field Brienne was fighting again but this time against three men instead of just one. Not suprisingly Brienne had won the round, earning the cheers of both the crowd, Renly and Margaery. "A marvelous performance as always Lady Brienne", Brienne took a bow towards Renly, "Thank you your grace", before returning to his side. "Ser Cregan! You finnaly decide to join us it seems" Renly chuckeled as he notices Cregan walking towards him. "Forgive me your grace, my days of travel have made me a heavy sleeper", Renly only raised his hand and retorted "No need to apologise my friend".

Cregan the went to the king and queen's side, but mostly near Margaery as most of the other Rainbow Guard were crowding up near Renly. "Time for the next match! Ser Cregan would you do us the honor?", Renly turned to Cregan who was silent for a few moments before finaly speaking "Very well your grace". As Cregan came down from the scaffold and into the field Lady Brienne did the same.

Lady Brienne unsheathed her sword as she got into a defensive stance. Cregan unsheathed both Frostbite and Demonstell and got into his own dual-wielding stance. The entire crowd went silent, both Brienne's and Cregan's capes were flapping in the wind, what seemed to be only meere seconds felt like ages as if time slowed down emediately. After a few moments of tensety one single word was heard coming from Renly, "BEGIN!"

With that Cregan emediately charged at Brienne and unleashed a flurry of attacks, using the same tactic he always did, slashing and blocking with Frostbite and stabbing and parrying with Demonsteel. Brienne was caught off guard by the sheer aggresivnes of Cregan, landing three strikes every second. She first tried blocking the attacks with her shield but Cregan's seemingly endless strikes quickly turned the shield into nothing but a pile of splinters. Without mercy, Cregan continued to bash his blades into Brienne's armor, breaking off some parts or just merely denting others. In one last desperate attempt Brienne took a swing at Cregan but he only jumped back before leaping back at her, this time, his attacks now were even fiercer, landing around seven strikes a second. If this was anyone else, Cregan would have just killed them instantly but knowing that Renly wouldn't be happy with that he only landed small scratches on Brienne. While Brienne tried to block the attacks all she could focus on is Cregan's face. His usual calm and collected expression was now replaced with a fierce rage that could only be described as beast-like.

While the battle beetwen the two knights continued, cheers could be heard from the crowd as well as the scaffolding. Margaery, The Reachmen and the smallfolk were cheering for Cregan while Renly, The Rainbow Guard and The Stormlanders cheered for Brienne.

Cregan continued to strike at Brienne but almost in a moment of weakness Cregan slashed with Frostbite, but this one was much slower, giving Brienne more time to react. Brienne went to block the attack but in less than a second Cregan leaped downward, passing Brienne's legs but not before attaching Demonsteel's hilt to her leg and pulling back, sending the woman flying to the ground.

Everyone went silent, their faces in shock from what they just witnessed. Brienne stared into Cregan's eyes in pure fear, the eyes had a red tint that made them look almost bloodied. Cregan took a deep breath, his eyes closing and his face calming down, before exhaling as he returned to his usual emotionless face. A slow clap came from the scaffolding, "Spectacular, both of you, that was... incredible", Renly said but his smile was replaced with a look of awe. Cregan said nothing while only reaching out his hand to help Brienne up from the ground. "Well fought Lady Brienne", Cregan said, his tone having a slight hint of respect for his opponent. "Ser Cregan, step forth, name your reward and I will fullfil it with the best of my abilities". Cregan looked up at Renly as he bowed his head, "Your grace, I ask for no reward", everyone was taken back by that statement, especially Renly "Surrely there must be something you desire", Cregan raised his head back before answering the young king, "I have my own desires your grace, but I would like to keep them to myself" while talking Cregan took a quick glance at Margaery that only she noticed. "Very well Ser Cregan, I will respect your wishes".


	25. Chapter 24: Death in the family

**Chapter 24: Death in the family**

The meele had passed and Cregan has been declared the winner although he accepted no prize much to everyone's suprise. The meele had finished and Cregan was returning to his tent to finally get some rest. In the tent he took of his armor and left his blades near his bed. As Cregan took a water skin to drink from he heard someone opening the drapes of his tent, it was Lady Brienne, who was still recovering from the battle. "Lady Brienne, to what do I owe this unexpected visit", Cregan filled his cup with water as he sat down on a chair.

"I wanted to come and congratulate you on your victory Ser"  
"Thank you my lady, although I doupt that is the only reason for your visit"

Cregan's words made Brienne stop for a second, caught off guard by how quick she was figured out.

"It seems you have found me out Ser"  
"Very well, would you then humor me and tell me why your here"  
"I wanted to find out why you joined King Renly's Rainbow Guard"  
"Why did you join King Renly?"  
"Excuse me?"  
"You joined because of the love you have for Renly"

Brienne was dead silent now, her face showing signs of nervousness

"Am I wrong?"  
"Y- yes"  
"I joined Renly's cause because of the love I have for Margaery"  
"The queen?"  
"Aye, the queen"  
"But Margaery is married to Renly"  
"And Renly is married to Margaery yet you still joined his cause"

The two exchanged glances before Cregan got up from his chair and approached Brienne. "Lady Brienne I mean Renly no harm, I am charged with protecting him and that is what I will do, you may have no fear in that", Brienne let out a small smile, "It seems I have underestimated you good Ser". Cregan reached his hand out as the two knights exchanged a handshake, "I look forward to figthing alongside you Lady Brienne", the smallest hint of a smile could be found on Cregan's face as the two stopped shaking hands "As do I Ser Cregan". With that Brienne left the tent, satisfied with the answer she got.

The following day went as normaly as it could, Cregan had spent the day guarding Renly and Margaery, following them throughout the camp and participating in the meele which had become a daily routine. It had been a normal day but then evening came and a suprise visitor came into the camp.

The sun was finally setting and Renly was in his tent accompanied by Margaery, Loras and Cregan. "Your grace, if I may ask, why was I called here" Cregan turned to Renly, who was sitting at his desk and eating a fresh peach. "We have a certain visitor coming and I thought you would want to hear this out" Cregan raised an eyebrow at Renly's statement before turning to both Loras and Margaery who were as clueless as he is. After a few more moments of silence the guest had finally arrived to reveal it was Peter Baelish.

"Your grace" Littlefinger said in his usual sly and deceitfull voice before noticing Cregan and emediately stiffing up. Cregan's eyes were pinned on Baelish the second he entered the tent, using every single of ounce of his restraint not to strangle the man. "Ser Cregan! I did not-" Baelish tried to calm Cregan but to no avail, "Spare me your lies Baelish" Cregan told the man, almost growling at him in a sense. "Well, now that we have our pleasantries out of the way, would you care to tell us why you are here Baelish" Renly's tone was mocking towards the master of coin who then started to retort."Well your grace, I actually wanted to meet with Ser Cregan, but I did not expect him do get here before me"

"What do you want Baelish?"  
"To pay my respects Cregan"

With that Petyr Baelish snapped his fingers for two servants to bring a chest. "What's this?" Cregan raised an eyebrow in suspicion while walking slowly towards the chest. "I think it's best for you to see for yourself Cregan", Petyr's face was serious which made Cregan even more worried.

Cregan slowly opened the chest to see a pile of bones inside. "What... what is this..." despite his face showing no emotions, his tone was cracking, something everyone noticed. "Cregan... these are your fathers bones... I'm... I'm sorry" Petyr's words seemed to be sincere but everyone knew better. The tent was silent before Cregan stood up and spoke, "I'm sorry your grace... you will have to excuse me", "Of course Cregan, your excused".

As Cregan made his way to the tent he could feel tears wellip up in his eyes but refused to cry, he refused to let it get to him. Many of the men gave their condolences to Cregan, often bowing their heads whenever he would pass them. Cregan finally got to his tent and sat on his bed. "This can't be happening-This can't be happening-This can't be happening..." Cregan continued to mutter to himself, finally cracking. He just couldn't keep his mask on anymore, no matter how hard he tried. Tears started to stream down his cheeks as he continued to ramble like a madman...

 ** _'Cregan...'_**  
'No, it's not happening'  
 ** _'Cregan...'_**  
'Shut up! It's your fault! He's dead because of you!'  
 ** _'Cregan calm down...'_**  
'No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no...'  
 ** _'Cregan!'_**  
'This can't be happening... It's not happening'  
 ** _'CREGAN!'_**

The yell semingly snapped Cregan's sanity back into him, his tears stopping and his face instantly becoming emotionless again.

 _ **'This is only the beggining Cregan, more will die, you must know that if our plan is going to succeed'**_  
'You... you knew?'  
 _ **'No, I didn't'**_  
'Then how do you know more will die?'  
 _ **'I've seen the coming winter Cregan, I've seen what it does, I've seen what it will bring'**_  
'What?'  
 _ **'Winter is coming Cregan, and the dead come with it'**_


	26. Chapter 25: The Red God and The Demon

**Chapter 25: The Red God and The Demon**

It had been a couple of days since Petyr Baelishes visit and Cregan still refused to leave his tent. Anytime someone tried to enter the tent they would either be emediately intimidated by Cregan's growls of rage or they would flat out refuse to enter the tent altogether.

 ** _'You can't stay in this tent forever'_**  
'You think?'  
 ** _'Cregan...'_**  
'What am I supposed to tell mother, or Robb, or Sansa...'  
 _ **'The truth Cregan'**_  
'What? That he was humiliated in front of an entire crowd before being beheaded by that little fucking degenerate'  
 ** _'No... you tell them the truth'_**  
 ** _'That he was ready to die to protect his family and that his honor was kept intact'_**

Cregan was sitting on his bed and was staring directly at the chest where his fathers bones were. Leting out a small chuckle at the voices comment.

 ** _'What's so funny'_**  
'Honor... fucking honor is what got my father killed...'  
'Honor took away one member of my family...'  
'...I won't let it take the rest'

As he continued to stare at the chest he could hear someone entering the tent, much to his dismay. "Cregan..." a soft female voice came from the entrance making Cregan turn his head to see Margaery in her usual green and white dress. "You haven't left this tent for days..." Margaery's words made Cregan let out a sigh. "Cregan..." she gently shook him to get a reaction but Cregan's face continued to be dead. "Are going to talk to me?" she sat down next to Cregan, her voice still as soft as she could manage to have it. Cregan wasn't showing any reactions and just continued to stare at the chest, ignoring Margaery entirely. The two sat in silence for what seemed like ages before Cregan finally spoke to her. "How long Margaery?" his voice was barely above a whisper before Margaery raised an eyebrow in confusion. "How long do we have to keep up these facades?" Cregan kept a constant tone while his face kept shifting from grief to rage to nothingness again. "I don't know Cregan... Only time will tell" Margaery leaned on Cregan's shoulder, resting her head on it as the two continued to look at the chest in silence.

Cregan and Margaery sat in silence once again. The footsteps and cheers of soldiers could be heard from the outside while the quiet atmosfere of the tent made the two almost fall asleep. "Do you remember when my mother died?" Margaery broke the silence making Cregan turn his head towards her. "Everyone was devastated, father tried to hide his grief beetwen soft smiles, Willas drowned himself in books, Garlan and Loras would just train all day, even grandmother seemed to be taken back" her voice started to crack as her eyes welled up a bit. "Me... all I could do was hide in my room and cry like a pathetic child..." Margaery wrapped her hands around Cregan's arm as he continued to stare blankly towards her. "Margaery... you were seven years old... you can't blame yourself" Cregan placed a hand on one of Margaery's hands who were still wrapped around his arm. "And so were you..." Margaery let out a giggle before tightening her grasp on his arm. "Yet while I was wallowing in my own tears, you climbed through my window during the night to cheer my up" both Cregan and Margaery smiled at the memory, ignoring the rising shouts of the soldiers outside. "I had to carry you out of the window" Cregan chuckled before continuing. "You led me to a small courtyard and we just started dancing-", "-By the time we stopped the sun had already come out" Cregan finished her sentence noticing that she was becoming to teary eyed to finish on her own.

"Anytime I was sad or depressed you would always cheer me up. That day in the forest you came to my rescue when you could have easily just ran away"

Margaery let go of Cregan's arm and looked directly into his eyes.

"All those times you could have just looked out for yourself but instead you helped me, you helped me so many times that I've lost count. I owe you so much Cregan, but I can't pay you back in the slightest. I'm not strong like you, I can't do things like you do. All I can do for you now is tell you what you told me that day."

" _We cannot spend our lives serving the dead. We must remember them, we must cherish them, we must honor their memory but we also must serve the living_ "

Margaery pulled back her tears before leaning in and kissing him on the cheek. As she kissed him she also wrapped her arms around Cregan's neck and hugged him tightly. "Please Cregan, if not for me, then for your family" Margaery whispered to Cregan's ear, her voice was caring and warm, her hands refusing to let him go.

During all of that time Cregan stood dead silent, his mask starting to crack as he finally wrapped his arms around Margaery. "I will..." Cregan finally said as they stopped hugging. "Thank you Cregan... thank you" Margaery got up from the bed and regained her composure. As she started to leave the tent Margaery shoot one last glare at Cregan, "Renly is getting ready for something, I don't know what, please Cregan, go and protect him" Margaery spoke with Cregan giving a single nod in aggrement.

One hour later...

Cregan finally got out from his tent, armored and battle ready. As he continued to the center of the camp many men bowed their heads saying their condolences at the same time. Every single bow he saw would tear away at his mask.

 _ **'Keep it together Cregan'**_  
'Wish these bastards would just keep to themselves'  
 _ **'We can't have you bursting out in tears in the middle of the camp'**_  
'You right, we just need to get to Renly'

When he finally got to Renly he was surrounded by the other members of the rainbow guard who were already saddling their horses. "Ser Cregan... you arrived" Renly said in an apathetic tone, clearly not caring about Cregan's disapearance during the past few days. "Yes your grace, forgive my recent absence" Cregan finally spoke for Renly to only raise his hand, signaling him to stop. "There's no need to apologise my friend. I know what it is like to lose family" he then signaled a squire to get another horse. "Ready your horse Ser Cregan, were going to met my brother today" Cregan spoke no words he only bowed and saddled his horse.

When Cregan mounted his horse he was positioned nearest to Renly alongside Loras who only greeted him with a small smile.

As they made their way to the meeting point beetwen Renly and Stannis, Cregan got condolences from all of The Rainbow Guard but the only ones who seemed genuine were Loras's and Brienne's. "You really think your going to be okay?" Loras turned to Cregan trying to reassure himself that Cregan won't become a liability.

"Don't worry about me Loras, I'll be fine"

After a few more moments of silence Loras spoke up again

"So why did you finally decide to come out of the tent?"  
"Margaery..."  
"She convinced you?"  
"Aye... she did..."  
"Well I'll have to thank her for that, to be honest, we all had half the mind to storm your tent and intimidate you into leaving it"  
"Why didn't you?"  
"Are you kidding, everyone here is scared shitless of you. Even Renly wouldn't dare come anywhere near your tent"

Loras let out a chuckle while Cregan only let out a small sigh of amusement.

After an hour of riding they had finally made it to the meeting point. It was a grassy cliff overlooking the shore. On one side was Renly, accompanied by his Rainbow guard and a few other soldiers, on the other side was Stannis, accompanied by Ser Davos, Mathos, Davos's son, a woman cloaked in red as well as a few guards. The two brothers engaged in conversation but to Cregan it was all mute. He stared at the red woman who looked back at him, her red dress and hair flickered throughout the air, her eyes were like poison to him as if piercing his soul. They continued to stare at each other before something snapped him back into reality.

"Why is your Stag on fire?" Renly asked, pointing out Stannis's strange banner pattern

"King Stannis has taken for himself the fiery heart of the Lord of Light" the red woman said, breaking her gaze from Cregan

"He is the prince that was promised, born amidst salt and smoke" the red woman continue before Renly cut her off

"Born amidst salt and smoke, what is he, a piece of ham?" Renly's comment made everyone let out a chuckle, everyone except Cregan, whose face was as dead as ever and was still staring at the fiery haired woman

"Do you smile?" Cregan finally spoke up, looking directly at the red woman's eyes

"Do you smile while watching them burn? While hearing them scream in agony?" he continued with everyone turning to him in confusment

"What are you talking about Cregan?" Renly asked him, confused by the whole statement

"In the Rh'llor culture, red priests would burn all those who would not accept their religion" Cregan turned to Renly before looking back to the red woman who gave him an almost sadistic smile

"Death by fire is the purest death" the red woman continued staring at Cregan, her smile widening as she started speaking

"Is that what you told your king when you burned his men?"  
"All those who deny the one true god are destined to burn"

After a few moments of silence beetwen the two parties Stannis spoke...

"Your Cregan Stark, Eddard's son"  
"Aye, I am"  
"Your father was an honorable man, he told everyone of my claim, why do you go against me now?"  
"My father expected you to come for him but he knew you wouldn't, he was ready to die for your claim and he did, all in the name of his bloody honor. I'm not going to make that mistake."  
"I thought you Starks valued honor above anything else"  
"I'm not like my family. I value Justice and Duty but I know when to look past my idiotic ideals to see the right choice"

Renly let out a small smile at Cregan's words, happy to know that he knew where Cregan's loyalties lied. Renly looked directly at Stannis, who was taken back by Cregan's words.

"You may have your Red God brother, but I have a Demon on my side, and he's worth a thousand of your Gods"

Note:

Phew... this was a really dialogue centric chapter. Sorry for the lack of any content in the past few days but school life is kinda shit for me now so don't expect such quick updates in the coming weeks at least until Spring Break.

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.


	27. Chapter 26: The Bonds of Wolves

**Chapter 26: The Bonds of Wolves**

 **Red skies...**  
 **Bloody river...**  
 **Screaming children...**  
 **The howl of wolves...**

Cregan stood in a familiar place. The Godswood in Winterfell. He sat on a stone rock near the small pond, his two swords at his side and Sif taking a nap next to him. In the distance he could hear laughter, the sound of metal banging, carriages moving and the ruffling of footsteps throughout the entire forest. His reflection could be seen on the clear, blue water. The water was completely still and calm but something was off about it, the water seemed to almost be glowing, a blue glint covered the entire pond.

"Must be in a dream..." Cregan whispered to himself, emediately remembering where he was supposed to be.

Despite that revelation Cregan was still as calm as ever. He didn't want to leave his home, he didn't want to leave The North... not again. The cold wind fluttered across his skin, something he didn't mind. Cregan loved the cold, he loved the felling of the snow, how the warm and fiery blood in his veins mixed with the frost on his skin. Many Southerners call The North a barren wasteland, filled to the brim with savage barbarians, but to Northerners this was a beautifull land, this was their home.

'If a man does not understand the rain how can he appreciate the roof over his head, if he does not understand the cold and danger of the outside how will he enjoy the warmth and safety of his home' his half-brother Jon's words echoed through his mind as the cold wind turned into a soft breeze.

 _ **"God's I love this place"**_ Cregan's eyes widened a bit as he turned to see his wolf Sif looking directly at him with the one good eye he had left and... talking. "Didn't know you could talk Sif" Cregan said non-chalantly, his eyes returning to normal and his face becoming even more relaxed. _**"We are in a dream Cregan, there aren't many rules in a dream"**_ Sif's tone was the same as Cregan's, completely relaxed and their faces not showing even a hint of stress. "We... so your dreaming as well then" Cregan leaned back on the stone and placed his hands to rest his head on them. **_"No, the truth is we have always shared the same dreams, but I only experienced them through your eyes and could never manifest myself into a physical form"_** the two talked as if all of this was just another normal conversation beetwen two people, except this wasn't such a conversation, it was a conversation beetwen a man and his wolf.

Cregan and Sif stared into the pond, it's blue glow was made even brighter with every red petal from the heart tree behind them that fell into the water. "So you've seen him as well" Cregan's expression darkened as he returned to his usual emotionless face. _**"The armored man... Yes... I've seen him"**_ Sif laid his head back down on the floor, reluctant to speak more on the matter. "You know that's not who I'm talking about Sif" Cregan stopped laying on the rock as he continued to stare into the pond, whose blue glow had increased during the conversation. After a few moments of silence Sif sighed, not being able to pass the situation, **_"I've seen your corpse Cregan, I've seen his smile, I've seen his eyes..."_** Sif's expression turned sour, his eyes became half closed and his voice turned to only a whisper at the thought of his master suffering all of the many deaths 'he' had inflicted on him. "I'm sorry Sif... I never wanted anyone else to be burdened by those nightmares" Cregan looked at his direwolf and softly scratched his fur to try and cheer him up. **_"You have nothing to be sorry for Cregan, despite looking through your eyes, I do not experience your pain"_** Sif continued, **_"I wish I could take your place though"_**. Cregan's eyes widened at the sentence, "Sif what do you mean?". _**"I mean that I am supposed to protect you no matter the cost yet all I can do in these damn dreams is watch you suffer time and time again"**_ Sif became even sadder as he finished his sentence, his voice being mixed with sad whimpers that Cregan would usually wake up to whenever he would experience a nightmare.

As they continued to relax on the ground the joyfull laughter of children was heard behind them. "Sif... listen to me..." Cregan began to speak, his hand on his wolfs head as he slowly stroked his fur...

"I have been battling these nightmares for 7 years now... I have experienced every single pain this life can give. I've been sliced, stabed, impaled, ripped apart, lit aflame. I have had to live through things so horrid that I don't even want to talk about them. This is my curse... The suffering I must bear and will bear for the rest of my life" for a second, Cregan's voice cracked in pain before returning to his somber tone. "And I do not anyone else to go through this. I will not allow it" when he finished his sentence, both Cregan's expression and tone hardened as his eyes seemed to almost light up in flames.

Sif let out another sigh as he turned to his master, **_"Why am I suprised? I should have expected such a statement from the dutybound Cregan Stark"_**. The two chuckled as they once again began to relax near the pond, which was now almost radiating from the light that the petals had caused.

After another few moments of silence Sif finally spoke up again...

 _ **"I almost forgot to tell you, I made it to Robb"**_  
"Did you give him the letter?"  
 _ **"I did, I also brought back both Lady and Nymeria"**_  
"That's good, I'm sure Sansa and Arya will be happy to see them"  
 _ **"What about Lyarra and Triston? Are they safe?"**_  
"They both should be in Riverrun by now"  
 _ **"Good... I'm glad their safe"**_

The pond now became a shining beacon of light as the last red petal landed on the water leaving the heart tree completely barren. _ **"I should be going, Robb plans to march to the Riverlands early in the morning"**_ Sif stood back up on all fours and slowly decended into the shining water. "Sif, before you go, promise to take care of Lyarra and Triston until I return" Cregan had a small smile on his face as he spoke to his companion. **_"Don't worry, I will. Goodbye Cregan"_** as Sif continued to descend into the water he eventually vanished as the light dissapeared and was replaced by a simple pond once again.

"Goodby my friend" Cregan whispered to himself, his smile dissapearing and whatever emotion he had became untracable.

As the light dissapeared every source of life The Godswood once had was also slowly dissipating. The joyfull laughter was now replaced with screams of horror and agony, the pond turned blood red and the once calm, blue skies were now completely drowned with a storm that raged throughout the forest. The soft breeze turned into a raging wind that decimated anything in it's path, the trees were novewhere to be found and all that was left was a battle-torn land, filled to the brink with the fallen bodies of both soldiers and simple smallfolk.

Cregan had no reaction to any of this, only when it was all over did he sigh and slowly got up. He unsheathed both Frostbite and Demonsteel and took a deep breath. When he turned around the once beautifull castle of Winterfell was now replaced by a burning wreckage but the only thing Cregan could focus on was him...

He stood there, two broken blades in his hands, his entire body covered with scars, arrows, knives and broken blades stabbed into him. His head was tilted downwards which made his face unseen as it was also covered with a black hood. His tattered cloak flickered through the wind. When he finally tilted his head upwards Cregan saw it again... He saw those blood-drunk eyes, the piercing smile that went from ear to ear and was carved into his face, his very own face that was covered in rotten skin and fresh blood.

"We meet again" Cregan stared directly into the corpses eyes, not flinching a bit

"..."  
"Before we do this answer me something..."

"..."

"Why must you do this? Why? That is all I ask you"  
 _ **"Valar Morghulis"**_ The corpse finally spoke, it's teeth gritted through each word as blood dripped from it's eyes

Cregan stood in silence for a few seconds, he closed his eyes and let out a small chuckle

"Valar Dohaeris"

Cregan opened his eyes as the two warriors stood opposite of each other. Both Cregan's grey and the corpses tatered black coat fluttering in the wind. They were the same person yet complete opposites. They stood frozen before suddenly... Cregan's corpse burst into a sprint, running directly towards him as Cregan got into his dual-wielding stance.

"Very well then..."

 **"HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT!"**

 **To be continued...**

Note:  
So let's review this chapter shall we... we had Cregan sitting in the Godswood, with his pet Sif, who can now talk. Okay, let's continue. They talk and then Sif dissapears. After he dissapears we have the return of... I actually don't have a name for him... If anyone want's to give me a name for Cregan's corpse then feel free to because until then I am just gonna keep calling him IT.

Alright so now that is over I will say that I did like writting this chapter a lot because obviously this was a dream and I could let my imagination run a bit wild here as well as letting me flesh out Sif's character a bit because (suprisingly) wolves can't talk, but don't expect any like FULL ON SUPER EXTREME MEGA ULTRA FANTASY EXPERIENCES. Also, tell me what you people think about Cregan's stance on not making anyone else suffer through the things he did because I think after the last few nightmares made you guys get the gist of what it does to him so yeah tell me your thoughts on that.

One last thing, about the cliffhanger, ready up your Red Bull and que the Skyrim music because the next chapter is going to be EPIC.

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.


	28. Chapter 27: The Strength to Fight

**Chapter 27: The Strength to Fight, The Will to Live**

 **Red skies...**  
 **Bloody river...**  
 **Screaming children...**  
 **The howl of wolves...**

"Very well then..."  
 **"HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT!"**

Cregan screamed as he and his corpse charged at each other at inhuman speeds, their swords raised high, ready to strike at any moment. The corpses smile widened even further as it's eyes cried blood. Cregan's neutral face turned into a bestial rage that trumped any sanity left in his mind.

As their blades finally clashed the sound of metal banging echoed throughout the entire field. Every single strike that the corpse swung would almost throw Cregan on the ground, but this time nothing was going to stop him. If he couldn't block the attacks then he would dodge them. The corpses blades were already broken so it had to get closer to inflict any damage but the sheer fiercness of it's blows were enough to close the distance. Cregan's speed was nothing compared to the corpses speed, with every strike he would swing it was emediately overshadowed by five stronger ones from the corpse. The corpse swung the sword with the longer blade towards Cregan's head.

As the blade came closer and closer to his skull, time seemed to slow down. Cregan looked directly at the blade, he saw a thin steel line approaching him, then time just stopped.

'No... I can't lose... not again... Not this time'

What seemed to last for an eternity turned into only a split-second move. Cregan sidestepped away from the attack. Every single ounce of blood in his body was completely boiling, he could feel his muscles straining, his teeth grating. Cregan almost crushed the handles of his blades as he once again charged at the corpse, the corpse did the same. Cregan wasn't giving the corpse any chance to strike again. He started swinging with Frostbite and stabbing with Demonsteel, one strike every second, two strikes every second, four strikes, eight strikes, he slowly speed up his attacks to not give the corpse any openings until finally, he reached ten strikes every second. Using every piece of strength he had to continue on with the barrage of a dozen strikes every second.

'I'm not going to lose to you... I'm not going to lose'

Despite all of those things, the corpse was still dodging all of them with ease but Cregan was managing to get some strikes on it. The corpse didn't seem to mind the pain though, it almost seemed to be allowing itself to get hit just to close the distance beetwen the two. During each strike Cregan was tearing off pieces of his skin little by little, it still wasn't showing any emotions except the same insane expression it would always have. While Cregan constantly tried to finish the fight as fast as he could the corpse was just striking at him beetwen the strikes. Cregan had continued swinging madly at the corpse before he saw an opening. Whilst the corpse was blocking an upwards swing it needed both swords to stop the sheer force of impact from the strike, that's when he saw it, his head was completely exposed, this was his time to strike.

Without any hesitation, Cregan plunged Demonsteel forward, the blade seemed to almost light up in flames as it connected to the corpses throat. As it slid into the throat and came out the other end, the corpses smile dissapeared, it's eyes lost their red tint as it dropped it's blades and fell to it's knees. Cregan eyes widened completely, not being able to proccess all of the information that had happened in the short timespan. The corpse slowly started to turn to ash, as the ash started to overcome it more and more Cregan noticed something, the smile that would pierce his soul was gone, the eyes that could break fear into even the bravest souls dissapeared, but then, before the corpse entirely dissapeared, Cregan could see the smile return for a single second before it was nothing but ash flowing in through the wind.

"It's... It's over... Did I win?" Cregan whispered to himself, barely being able to breathe from exhaustion. He looked around him to see the battle-torn land around him, no one else was there but him. The screams died down, the howls stopped completely, the storm calmed and when he looked towards the small pond he saw the clear blue water that replaced the bloody pond. He could feel a weight lifting from his chest, the pain stopped yet all he could do was continue to look throughout the field.

"I did it... I actually did it..." Cregan dropped his blades in pure shock of the realisation. When Cregan continued to realise what had happened, he fell to his knees and sighed one last time to calm himself down. He had finally gotten the better of it, he had won.

For a full minute he knelt there, still breathing heavily, not sure what to do now.

So he just stood back up and went to the sheaths of his swords. The pond was so calming that it looked like it didn't belong in this field. When he sheathed his swords he once again took a look at the pond, something was different now. The water turned dark as tiny waves made circles around one single spot. Cregan slowly approached the water and cautiosly knelt down near it. He could see his reflection but for some reason he was still wary of the water. Cregan reached out his hand and pointed his finger towards the point that the waves were eminating from.

As his finger approached the water, the tip of it had grasped the pond.

Suddenly, a rotten, paleskinned hand reached out to him and pulled his chest towards the pond. A broken sword came from the water and plunged itself into Cregan's chest. As Cregan coughed up blood he could see his corpse slowly rising from the water to meet him eye to eye.

 _ **"You lose Cregan. I win..."**_  
 _ **"When will you learn..."**_  
 _ **"You can't kill me... you never will..."**_

As he started to lose conciousness Cregan's corpse dragged him down into the water. The corpse kept stabbing him in the water, the two slowly descended into darkness. He tried to fight back but it was all in vain, the corpse just kept stabbing, and stabbing, and stabbing... Constantly, whithout mercy. And as there was nothing but darkness engulfing him... he finally just gave up.

'I happened again... I lost again...'


	29. Chapter 28:The Plan to take Bitterbridge

**Chapter 28: The Plan to take Bitterbridge**

Note:  
Alright, before we start this chapter I need to adress something. One of the reviews made me realise "Oh yeah, some people might not be happy about Cregan being in The Rainbow Guard and participating in pointless tourneys instead of kicking some serious Lannister ass". Well I would like to assure people that this will not carry on for much longer and I promise you this was not just a useless sidequest like Dorne was in Season 5 *cough* Pointless *cough*. So yeah just know you guys that I do read all your reviews. Hint,hint, give me more reviews.

 **Sansa's POV**

These past few weeks have been to stressfull for Sansa. Things had only gotten worse when she got the news about her father. She couldn't stop crying at first, her tears would stream profusely for two days straight. The pain she felt was worse than her grief though. As those two days passed by she would only craddle herself in her bed. Her heart felt like it was going to explode.

Today was going to be the same but then someone knocked on the door of her chambers. "Come in" Sansa spoke the first words she had said in days, she stopped craddling herself, regained her composure, stopped laying on the bed and now only sat on the edges. "My lady..." a young maester entered the room, his chains clanging as he continued walking. "Lyarra has fully recovered" the maester said solemnly, his tone mixed with joy and relief. "Then it's time she got the 'good' news" Sansa sighed as she got up from the bed and made her way out of the room.

As she walked through the hallways of Riverrun Sansa tried to keep her composure straight, her form elegant and her expression not showing any grief but despite that, her face was still showing a lot of pain. With the maester by her side, she made her way to Lyarra's chambers where she was resting. "Thank you maester, that will be all" Sansa said in a soft tone as she turned to the maester who only gave a single bow before leaving. When the maester left Sansa's sight she gave out a sigh before slowly opening the door.

When she entered the room she saw Lyarra lying on the bed and wearing a white dress that was just her size, she was still quite weak from all the medicine she had to take but alive nonetheless and much better than she was before. By her side was Triston, sitting on a chair near the bed and conversing with her. The two smiled and laugh, Lyarra's face was bright and colorfoul, a good change from her previous state, Triston's face hovewer, was much more somber. He had obviously heard the news.

"Triston... can we speak privately for a moment?" Sansa spoke up causing both of them to turn around in suprise.  
"Of course my lady" Triston got up from his chair and the two left the room, leaving Lyarra all alone.

When Sansa and Triston left the room the two both had the same expression of pure grief. "Does she know?" Sansa asked with Triston shaking his head in dissagrement. "No my lady. I thought you should be the one to tell her." he whispered, trying not to let Lyarra hear them. Sansa let out a long sigh, her eyes went dead, reminding Triston a lot of her brother Cregan, but he didn't think much of it since they were twins and were obviously going to share some traits. "Triston, could please stay out here, I think this should be beetwen just me and her" Sansa spoke while Triston gave only a single bow.

Sansa once again opened the doors of Lyarra's room she saw her looking out the open window, her black hair flowed as slight breeze shook it. "Sansa..." Lyarra lit up the moment she saw her, practically jumping from the bed to hug Sansa. Every single moment she held Lyarra in her arms made her dread the conversation they were about to have. Nevertheless, she forced a smile on her face to not make the girl worry. "It's good to see your okay sweetie" Sansa had a mellow tone as she rubbed her hand on Lyarra's cheek. "Because of you. I never did get to thank you for taking care of me." Lyarra giggled a bit, her face was so cheerfull and uplifting that it made Sansa forget about why she was there for a second, before reality kicked back again. "You shouldn't be out of bed yet Lyarra, come on. There's something we need to talk about." Sansa took her hand and lead her back onto the bed.

They both sat down at the edge of the bed as Sansa reluctantly let go of Lyarra's hand. "What did you want to talk about?" Lyarra raised an eyebrow in concern, noticing Sansa's depressed expression.

 _'Gods... this is going to be difficult...'_

 **Cregan's POV**

Days had passed by with nothing interesting happening. The days were filled with small and short marches procceded with a daily meele (Cregan won every single one of them). Today was different though. Today was the day that Renly finally decided to attack The Lannisters, much to Cregan's pleasure.

 _ **'So he's finally taking the fight to them'**_  
'Took him long enough'  
 _ **'Happy to finally vent out that rage Cregan?'**_  
'I'm going to slaughter them all'  
 _ **'I'll take that as a yes'**_

Renly, The Rainbow Guard, many Stormland and Reachmen lords as well as Lord Tarly, who was made the leader of the operation, were gathered in a single large tent. A wooden table placed within the middle and a map of The Westerlands and The Crownlands placed on top of it. While they were of parrading around The Stormlands, the Lannisters took over the town of Bitterbridge and garrisoned over 10,000 men in there. When he found out about this, Renly was furious. He didn't want to be called weak and emediately called the meeting to retake the town.

"Your grace, we have over 100,000 strong, my men alone can take the city with ease" Randyll Tarly spoke proudly, clearly glad of his position as the leader "How many men do you have in your own household Lord Tarly?" Renly shifted his eyes from the map to Randyll "Around 8000 footmen, 3000 light cavalry and 1000 heavy cavalry..." Lord Tarly's tone became even more boastfull as he continued to speak "... every single one of them are worth over a dozen Lannisters, my footmen are-" before he could continue to praise his training tactics he was cut off by Cregan "10,000 against 12,000. It seems like the winner is clear in that fight." Although his words seemed to be complementing him, Cregan's tone by itself was mocking Randyll "Your point boy?" Randyll asked him in annoyance only to be cut off by Cregan again "In an open field, this would be a clean victory. But Bitterbridge is not an open field now is it Tarly? My point is that you should think about the terrain of the battle before you boast about your superioroty" Cregan quickly silenced Lord Tarly only for Renly to speak for him "I don't see your point here Cregan. Despite them being in a castle, we can still take them out through sheer men alone" Renly supported Randyll Tarly's decision resulting in the Lord letting out a mocking grin at Cregan

"Do you know what animals do when they get cornered your grace?" Cregan placed a finger where Bitterbridge was on the map and leaned on the table. "They get desperate..." Renly answered, now intrigued by what Cregan was going to say next. "Exactly, and that's what the Lannister men are, their desperate." everyone then started to listen, all interested now except Lord Tarly, who was ignorantly brooding in the corner. "Then they will surely surrender emediately!" Loras spoke up, his expression completely excited about the easy victory they were going to get but was emediately shut down by Cregan. "Wrong. This means they will fight to the last man, with everything they got. And unlike us, they have boiling oil, fully ready archers, battlements, food to last for about a year or so and a strong will to survive." he continued to point out many facts which resulted in whispers going throughout the tent, all except Renly, who stood silent in thought. "HA! Well see how all those things come up when their faced with Stormland steel!" Courtney Penrose, one of Renly's greatest supporters and a fierce Stormlord spoke up, resulting in all the other Stormlords to roar with pride.

"ENOUGH!" Renly shouted, his voice filled with authoroty for once before turning his eyes back to Cregan. "Cregan, are you suggesting you lead the operation? Forgive me but I would much rather have Lord Tarly lead my men" despite all the good points Cregan made, he was still supporting Randyll. "I don't need men your grace..." Cregan's sentence made everyone once again raise an eyebrow but this time in pure disbelief. "Tarly can have his men. Let me get in the town and the next time the doors open, Bitterbridge will be yours."

"I see... So your saying that you and a small group infiltrate Bitterbridge and take it from the inside..." Renly once again looked at the map while the lords once again started whispering. "No your grace, other people will only slow me down. It will also be easier for me to sneak in while i'm alone." this time all the lords made their opinions known by letting out a mocking laugh, much to Randyll Tarly's delight.

"With all due respect Cregan, I doupt even you can take out 10,000 armed men by yourself."  
"You underestimate my abilites your grace. Lord Tarly's men made the same mistake and look what happened to them"

Although he knew his family would be dissapointed at that little jab, Cregan didn't care though, any opportunity to mock Lord Tarly was gladely taken. "Your grace, with all due respect to my other Rainbow Guard, I am the most powerfull person here. Give me three days at the least and I promise you that I will succed." the whole tent was in silence, taken back by the truth of Cregan's words, remembering of how he slaughtered Lord Tarly's men 7 years ago. After many moments of thought, Renly had finally made his decision.

"Very well then. Cregan, you have 3 days. If you do not return by that time we will take Bitterbridge by storm."


	30. Chapter 29: Bitterbridge

Note:  
NEW GAME OF THRONES TRAILER JUST CAME OUT HOLY FUCKING SHIT IT WAS AWESOME OH MY GOD...  
Alright I need to calm down... OH MY GOD IT WAS SO FUCKING COOL MY GOD JUST HOLY FUCK... alright I'm done.

 **Chapter 29: The Infiltration of Bitterbridge**

The town of Bitterbridge was not much to marvel at. A large town with stone walls surrounding it and a town center also surrounded by stone walls. Next to the town was a river that split off when it meet Bitterbridge.

In the distance was Cregan, equipped with a black cloak and simple leather clothing, his two swords Frostbite and Demonsteel and his ironwood bow strapped to his back along with a quiver of around thirty arrows. He rode a black stallion with ruby red eyes. To one of his sides was Loras Tyrell and on the other was Randyll Tarly with his entire host of 12,000 men. The three looked at the town with solemn determination.

"Cregan, are you sure you can do this?" Loras spoke up, ending the silence beetwen the three.  
"I'm sure..." two simple words came from Cregan, his stare completely fixed on Bitterbridge and his face neutral.  
"I still think we should just take Bitterbridge by force" Lord Tarly scoffed, placing one of his hands on Heartsbane, House Tarly's ancestral valyrian steel sword.  
"No... end of discussion Tarly" Cregan sharply turned to Lord Tarly, he glared daggers at the man "Don't talk to me like I'm some new to war Stark. I managed to make the only victory against Robert Baratheon during his rebellion. What reason do you have to question my tactics?" Randyll vented out his rage towards Cregan, his face turning red for a second before he returned to his gruffy expression "Yes, you defeated Robert, and how many men did you lose in that battle? A thousand? Two thousand?" Cregan's voice was the complete opposite of Randyll's, calm and stoic without a single crack in tone.  
"..." Randyll stopped for a moment, gritting his teeth at the questions Cregan was asking him.  
"Answer me..." Cregan narrowed his eyes and also gritted his teeth but this was almost like a growl towards him.  
"Six thousand, seven hundred and thirty... give or take" Randyll reluctantly answered him, tightening his fists while talking.  
"Then I have over six thousand reasons to question you" Cregan said threateningly to him, showing how bitter the two were at each other.

"Why you little-"

"My lords please! This is not what we came here for!" Loras rode beetwen the two who were almost ready to pounce at each other at a moments notice. "Cregan, come with me..." Loras started to ride forward with Cregan following suit. "Loras rode a milk white stallion, the complete opposite to Cregan's horse that was as black as night. "You seriously need to stop picking fights with him Cregan" Loras said as they slowly approached Bitterbridge, their cloaks flowing throughout the wind. "No..." Cregan put it simply. Loras sighed at Cregan's comment, his gaze turning to the town as they both stopped on a small hillside.

"This is as far as I go... Good luck Cregan"  
"Loras... if I don't come back then give this to your grandmother"

Cregan pulled a letter out from his satchel. It was engraved with a red sigil with no simbol on it and gave it to him.

"This is for her eyes only. Understood?"  
"Aye, I understand..."

As the two departed they gave each other a handshake and went their separate ways.

"I'll see you in three days then friend."  
"Aye, I'll try."

And so began the infiltration of Bitterbridge.

Cregan first waited for the sun to set and night to gather. Now he was covered by the shroud of darkness and completely unseable. As he ran throughout the lower edges of the wall he found cracks on the wall carefully started climb the walls. With every crack he slipped his fingers slowly and took a firm grasp as he would jump from one to the other. His steps were muffled so whenever his feet would connect with the stone of the wall it would make no sound however the rattling of his arrows as well as his swords also rattling from each jump. Speed was key here, if he couldn't take this slowly he would simply jump past the wall as fast as he could. The darkness, while concealing him was also making it harder for him to spot a next climbing point yet despite that he succesfully managed to climb over the wall.

Now came the hard part, he was going to have to sneak past 10,000 men.

He slowly sneaked throughout the battlements, being watchfull not to bump into any unwanted attention. Every step was completely silent, besides his legs, no muscle in Cregan's body was moving to not rattle his weapons anymore and make noise. As he continued to silently move throughout the battlements Cregan came to watch tower built within the walls. Inside it were two Lannister archers, they weren't wearing any armor and their heads were exposed, that was the only thing Cregan needed to know.

Cregan continued to observe the two men as he pulled out two small throwing knives from his satchel and carefully aimed one to the Lannister man on the left. The archers were sitting and drinking while playing some sort of gambling game, their expressions made them look half-ready to pass out. After three seconds of carefull aiming Cregan threw one of the throwing daggers at the archer to the left. As the dagger flew throughout the air and connected with the man's skull, before he could notice anything the dagger was lodged five inches into the man's skull. The other archer jumped out of his chair but before he had time to react a dagger was also lodged into his skull. The two men now laid dead on the ground, their blood was dripping onto the floor as Cregan took the two daggers out of the skulls and cleaned the blood off on their dead bodies before placing them back in his satchel.

The tower had a stairway leading down to the barracks where most of the garrison were now sleeping. Cregan made his way down the wooden stairs, one of his leaning hands on the stone wall to not stumble and fall in the darkness. When he made it to the bottom he emediately went back to sneaking, crouching down and hiding behind some conveniantly placed chest-high barrels, boxes and walls.

Traversing thruoghout the barracks he would see empty storage rooms filled to the brim with food, defense mechanisms for sieges, weapons, armor and other assorted things. Cregan entered one of the storage rooms containing all of the weapons the garrison could carry. Swords, shields, axes, spears, maces, morningstars, bows, crossbows, all assorted in their respected corners. This mass amount of weapons would shrink down any man standing in the room but the only weapon Cregan was interested in was a small stilleto knife. The hilt of the knife was completely clasped in boiled leather while the guard was golden. The blade was completely thin with the tip being as sharp as a sewing needle, perfect for quick and silent kills. He then slid the knife into his sleeve, ready to pull it out at any moment before he left the room and carefully closed the door to not make any noise.

When he made it out of the armory storage room Cregan quickly went back to the safety of darkness behind more conveniently placed barrels before he saw a Lannister guard leaving one of the rooms.

While the guard was leaving, Cregan could see something through the crack of the open door, more Lannister guards, completely asleep or dead drunk and passed out. Cregan followed the one guard that left the room and, when he made sure no one could see, placed one hand over the man's mouth, pulled the knife from his sleeve and stabbed the man in his heart through his back. Luckily, the knife was long enough to reach the guards heart through his back. Cregan then slowly leaned the man on the floor to make any sound and made his way to the sleeping quarters where the other guards were.

'Three down...'  
 _ **'... nine-thousand, nine hundred and ninety-seven more to go'**_

As Cregan silently sneaked into the room he saw dozens of Lannisters sleeping and unoblivious to what was going to happen. Cregan sneaked to the closest sleeping man and once again pulled out the dagger. Despite his absolute hatred towards the Lannisters, he still had a sense of honor, so he killed each one of them as quickly as possible, one by one, most of them didn't even feel the dagger slowly slipping into their hearts.

 **Meanwhile, outside Bitterbridge...**

Loras and Randyll Tarly stood vigilant, watching Bitterbridge as Tarly's men started setting up and entrenching a camp. Despite it being only a few hours since he last saw him, Loras still had his doupts if Cregan could achieve this monumental task while Randyll wasn't as worried for the boy he despised for seven years.

"My lord, I still don't believe that this boy can take care of an entire town" Lord Tarly turned to Loras, breaking the silence beetwen the two.  
"Have more faith Lord Randyll, there's no one else who could pull this off" Loras ensured the old lord while putting on a friendly smile and releasing a chuckle

"Be that as it may my lord, one man can't win a war. Armies win wars, soldiers win wars. If we lean to much on Cregan, it will surely be our downfall when he can no longer hold us steady" Loras raised an eyebrow at Lord Tarly's words but the one thing that made him the most suprised was Randyll actually using Cregan's name, before he would ussually just reffer to him as 'boy' or 'that brat'.  
"If I didn't know better my lord I would have to say that you seem worried about our Demon" Loras once again chuckled a bit resulting in Randyll letting out an annoyed sigh.  
"..." Tarly said no words, he only crossed his arms and gritted his teeth a little.

An awkward silence beffel the two. Tarly continued to grit his teeth while Loras started to speak once more.

"Lord Tarly, if I may ask something of you?" Loras's face turned serious as Randyll turned to him

"Why do you hate Cregan so much? He did nothing wrong to you, he was only defending Margaery." The conversation turned more serious as the rattling of chainmail and footsteps were heard in the distance.  
"..." Lord Tarly once again sighed, turning silent again before speaking up

"I don't know my lord. In truth, I felt no anger or disdain towards the boy, I actually sorry for him and Lady Margaery. But my damn pride couldn't take such an embarassment. Randyll Tarly, the greatest military strategist in Westeros, famed for taking down Robert Baratheon and winning the only victory for the Targaryens as well as possesing Westeros's best military trained force. The lord whose own men were too piss drunk to recognise their liege lords daughter and tried to rape her only for them all to be butchered by a ten yeard old boy." Lord Tarly's face softened as his eyes became more open, he now looked more like a grandfatherly figure instead of a war general.  
"Seven hells I sent my own son to the wall because I couldn't accept the fact he wasn't a warrior." Tarly's voice cracked for only a second before returning to the stern voice he was known for.  
"Do you miss him? Do you miss your son?" Loras said respectfully, trying not to be too intrusive.

"I would do anything to see him again my lord..."

Note:

Well I hope you guys enjoyed this rendition of Metal Gear Thrones: Solid Wolf Edition. Next time, Game of Rising: Revengeance Dynasty Warriors edition.

If you guys are wondering, I added this little scene beetwen Loras and Randyll to just give them both more character development instead of them being just 'The Gay Guy' and 'The Horrible Father'.

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.


	31. Chapter 30: Seven Swords

Note:  
I feel like this doesn't need to be mentioned but hey fuck it.

I do not own the A Song of Ice and Fire books nor The Game of Thrones HBO TV show. All credits go to G.R.R.M, D & D and HBO. However I do own Cregan, Lyarra, Triston and all the other OC's related to this fanfiction as well as the story this fanfiction is telling.

 **Chapter 30: Seven Swords**

Drunken roars could be heard throughout the tavern as The Lannisters were doing the same thing that many men do. Drinking, whoring and gambling, even more so due to the fact that they were wearing 'The King's Colors' and were allowed to do or take anything they wanted. All of them were gathered around the tables near each other, there were around twenty of them altogether, piled up in one single corner. In the other corner of the tavern, opposite to The Lannisters and the farthest from them sat a group of five. One older man, somewhere in his early fiftyes, showing his age by his short gray hair and full beard, two middle-aged men, one clad in full black plate armor while the other wore only traveling robes and carried a few satchels, an older teen, also equipped in armor yet his was more refined and shiny, and a girl, around fourteen or so years old.

"Wish I could just tear those bastards apart right now" the man in black armor murmured, clenching his fist that was leaning on the table while the other held a cup of ale.  
"Patience Tarkus, we do not want to attract any attention" the older man spoke, taking a sip of his ale.  
"But we can take them easily" the girl whispered to the older man, carefull not to make the Lannisters aware of her presence.  
"Yes Lily, and then we would have the entire town on us" the scholar said sarcasticaly, tapping his fingers on the table as the black armored man became even more annoyed.

The girl only puffed her cheeks and grabbed her cup before taking a sip. Unlike the others, her cup was filled with only simple water. During all of this, the armored teen sat silent, leaning one hand on his chair and the other on his cup. The entire tavern seemed to shake at the Lannister mens roars of drunken laughter. The girl, Lily, and the man, Tarkus, seemed to be even more annoyed by this while the older man, the scholar and the teenager only continued to drink away the roars.

"Vesemir, what happens if they start get violent?" the teenager finally spoke, turning to the old man.  
"Then we'll have no choice, we kill them" the old man said grimly yet non-chalantly.  
"And if the whole town comes down on us like you said?" the scholar once again said sarcasticaly.  
"Then we ride our asses out of town as fast as we can" the old man then took another sip of ale, his beard being slightly moist from the drink.

As they continued to sit in silence, the complete opposite of the other corner. But then something happened, something rather peculiar that caught Vesemir's eyes.

"More vine!" one of the Lannister mean shouted, his voice being mixed with random stutters and hiccups as he gropped one of the serving girls and pushed her onto his lap.

Despite that the other serving girls did nothing, the owner of the tavern also stood frozen. Then something else happened, a hooded man came out from the back door. Vesemir inspected him the suspicious man, he had two swords strapped to his side, a bow and a quiver of arrows wrapped around his back along with a satchel dangling to one his sides. All of these things had Vesemir worried, he knew what was about to happen.

"Y-Y-Y-Y You..." the guardsmen who, just a few seconds ago, was completely carefree, now was pissing his pants in fear.

Before any of them could react, all of the serving girls as well as the tavern keeper pulled out weapons and started attacking the Lannisters. The serving girls stabbed the Lannister men in their necks with small kitchen knives while the tavern keeper lodged a large axe into one of the Lannister men's skull. Any guards who tried to run were emediately cut down by the hooded mans two swords. As more and more men died the last of the Lannisters tried to fight back and attacked the hooded man. All in vain though. The hooded man, in the blink of an eye, stabbed the guard with both swords and lifted him in the air before spliting him in half and wiping the blood of his blades on one the guards corpse non-chalantly.

During all of that the man's hood came off, revealing a chiseled face with a stubble and long auburn hair. The man had an emotionless expression as he killed the last of the guardsmen before turning to the tavern keeper.

"Lock your doors and don't let any other Lannister men in" he said, his tone also completely divoid of emotion.

The tavern keeper nodded in response before doing some sort of salute and saying "For King Renly..."

While all of this went on, the group stared in awe, all but Vesemir who was just smirking at the sight. 'Never thought you would be joining Renly of all people' he thought to himself as the man put his hood back on, sheathed his swords and left, but not before shooting a glare at Vesemir and his little group.

"Shh" the man placed a finger on his lips before swiftly leaving the tavern.

"Vesemir, what's the plan?" Lily was the first to regain her composure, her voice snapping all of the others wits back to them.  
"We follow him, everyone, grab your gear..." Vesemir stood up and grabbed his longsword, strapping it to his right as the others did the same.  
"Are you sure we can handle this?" The teenager spoke up but his voice was just more than a whisper.  
"Don't worry Rodrick, I have a plan" Vesemir assured him before they all started to walk to the door.

Before they could leave they were stopped by the tavern keeper who placed a hand on Vesemir's shoulder. "I wouldn't try to stop him friend. Trust me, he can't be stopped" Vesemir only gave a sly smirk to the tavern keepers words as he lightly brushed of his hand, "Don't worry friend, we aren't going to stop him, were going to help him". The tavern keeper then begrudgingly opened the door again, unlocking it and wishing them all luck as their group all left. Before all of them left the girl stopped by the door, reached into her pocket to pull out a small pouch of coins and threw it to the tavern keeper.

"For your services" she gave out a small smirk as the entire group was now outside the tavern.

 **Cregan's POV**

Cregan sneaked throughout the rainy streets of Bitterbridge, his hood shielding his head from the raindrops. He was intentionaly walking slow as to not make to much noise but due to the massive amount of puddles it was unavoidable. He then suddenly stopped when he heard footsteps, he was being followed and by the sounds of it there was more than just one person following him. Cregan then started to walk again but this time in a much faster pace, despite him not being able to see them he could hear the direction they were coming from and thus, he had a plan.

 **Vesemir's POV**

"Did we have to emediately leave the tavern without even taking cloaks or something?" The scholar crossed his arms for warmth as the rain continued to pour.  
"Quit your complaining Edwyn, we have to catch up to him" Tarkus stood beside Edwyn, slightly shielding him from the rain and wind due to his sheer size.

Out of the five of them Lily was the only one with a hood and cloak and no one really minded because of her being the youngest of them. Vesemir lead the group throughout the street, him being in front while Rodrick and Lily were in the middle and Tarkus and Edwyn were in the back. "Vesemir do you mind telling us why we are going to help this man?" Lily spoke up with Vesemir only letting out a slight chuckle, "Trust me child. If he's doing what I think what he's doing that man is going to need all the help he needs". Everyone raised an eyebrow at his statement but Lily seemed to be the most confused by it.

They all continued to search for the hooded man but eventually couldn't follow the sound of his footsteps anymore as they eventually just... stopped. The last sound came from the market square, a large open area filled with many empty stalls that were now drenched in water. "Where'd he go?" Tarkus looked around the square with all of them now being in the complete middle. Vesemir took a few steps forward outside of the group before, suddenly, he felt a cold edge grazing the skin of his neck, coming semingly out of nowhere.

"Vesemir!" Edwyn shouted out as him, Rodrick, Lily and Tarkus pulled out their weapons at the man who was now holding Vesemir hostage. Rodrick pulled out a lightly decorated longsword from it's sheath, Lily got out a bow and pulled an arrow onto the string, aiming it towards the hooded man, Edwyn pulled out a shortsword while Tarkus only readied his fists as if it was a simple tavern brawl.

"You have five seconds to tell me why I shouldn't slit your throat right now" the hooded man said in a threatening tone while putting the dagger closer to Vesemir's neck.  
"Easy lad, we aren't here to fight you" Vesemir said slowly, his voice was suprisingly calmer than someone who was being threatened at knife point should be.  
"And why should I trust you?" the hooded man said cinicaly.

"Drop the old man. Now!" Lily said while aiming an arrow at the hooded man's head.

"So what, you gonna kill me now?" Vesemir said with a bit of cinicism in his voice, his tone now serious.  
"Never thought a Stark would murder a defensless old man" his words made the hooded man loosen his grip a bit before he pushed him towards the other four.

"Ah, that's better..." Vesemir lightly rubbed his neck and took a deep breath to inhale some air.  
"Now, if you would be so kind a-" before Vesemir could finish he once again had a blade next to his face but, thankfully, this one was just near his nose.  
"Explain. Now." the hooded man said slowly as Vesemir's group once again pointed their weapons towards them.

"Well your not exactly that hard to recognise Stark"

"Can everyone please put their weapons down so we can have a civilised conversation?" Vesemir once again spoke in his cocky and non-chalant tone as everyone begrudgingly sheathed their weapons. "Talk old man, why do you say you want to help me?" the hooded man started to interogate Vesemir as he let out another sly smile. "What? Does a man really have to have a reason to kill Lannisters anymore?" the hooded man narrowed his eyes at Vesemir's words before speaking again, "No, but men have to have a reason to kill Lannisters in one of their own towns-" he sharply turned his eyes to Lily for a moment "- no offense girl". "You know it feels like I should be offended when you call me 'girl' " Lily gave a witty retort at the hooded man before Vesemir spoke again, "Now, now, be nice Lily" he then turned back to the hooded man "Listen Stark, you may not believe us but we do want to help you, truly..." as he continued Vesemir was cut off by Lily who emediately pulled out her bow and arrow and aimed it towards one of the streets.

"Guardsmen, to our left!" she shouted out as everyone pulled out their weapons again, all but Vesemir.

Like she said, thousands of Lannister men marched out and all faced their spears towards them. Many of the footmen were equipped with either swords and shields or just spears while much of the cavalry had just swords. In the front was Lord Roland Crakehall, riding atop his horse proudly.

"Your killing ends now Demon!" Crakehall shouted out, pointing his sword at the hooded man.

 **Cregan's POV**

Cregan stood in front of the group he was just considering to kill, but now he was going to fight alongside them.

 _ **'I see about eight thousand men, armed and fully ready to kill'**_  
'We'll see about that'  
 _ **'I don't think even you can take them all down'**_  
'Just watch me'  
 _ **'Alright, then...'**_

Cregan unsheathed both Frostbite and Demonsteel as he got into his dual-wielding stance. To his sides stood two armored men, one held a slightly decorated longsword while the other held a giant, cleaver-like, greatsword and a square shield, around the same size as the sword. "It's over Demon! This town will be your grave!" Crakehall once again shouted while Cregan spoke only three words. "I doupt that..." the words were barely above a whisper and were made even harder to hear from the constant amount of rain pouring down from the skies. No other person could be this calm in a situation like this but something caught Cregan's eye.

The old man he was taking hostage just a few minutes ago was now confidently walking towards the Lannister garrison. "Who the hell are you?" Crakehall said in both confusment and anger while the old man only let out a small chuckle before once again speaking.

"Been a while since I killed any Lannisters..." the old man said confidently as he put his hand on the hilt of his sword.  
"HA, I'd like to see you try! You two! Take care of this fool!" Crakehall signaled two horsemen who emediately charged at the old man.

 _ **'Brave man'**_  
'Arrogant man'

In the blink of an eye the old man unsheathed his sword as he jumped in the air, having the same height-level as the horsemen before, in almost a spining slash maneuver, decapitated both of the guards. Everyone watched in awe, all but Cregan and the old man's little group of four.

"So..." the old man lifted his blade to reveal it's entirity. A longsword with a black hilt and a straight guard with three blue amethysts on it, two on each part of the guard and one on the butt of the hilt. The blade itself was as red as blood. Although he was probably imagening it, Cregan could fell a certain type of warmth coming from the blade, the same warmth that came from his shortsword Demonsteel.

"...who else has a death wish"

 **To be continued...**

Note:

Phew. Here's a little bit of a longer chapter for you all because I thought "You know, it's a sunday, I have nothing else to worry about today, I haven't updated much. I might as well write a bit of a longer chapter."

This chapter introduced Vesemir and his little gang, I do hope you all like them. Vesemir is the one I hope you all like the most because he was inspired by my now sadly deceased grandfather. So yeah, please tell me your thoughts on them as well as your predictions on how 'HOW WILL THE GANG GET OUT OF THIS ONE?' .

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.


	32. Chapter 31: Seven Swords 2

**Chapter 31: Seven Swords 2**

"...who else has a death wish"

Everyone went silent, all the could be heard was rain pouring down and hitting the floor. Vesemir kept his sword pointed towards the Lannister men and a sly grin on his face. The silence continued on for a few more seconds before a loud yell could be heard coming from the Lannister lines.

"Kill them! Kill them now!" Roland Crakehall let out a monstrous roar as thousands of Lannister guardsmen charged at Vesemir and his little group.

"Fight or flight Stark, your choice" Vesemir turned his head rather calmly as the Lannisters continued to charge towards them.  
"I didn't come this far just to run like a coward..." Cregan had an emotionless expression as he lifted his two swords, ready for a bloodbath.  
"Why do these things always happen to us?!" Edwyn complained as he too lifted his weapon and readied for combat.  
"Less complaining, more killing Ed! Now!" Lily emediately shoot two arrows towards the charging Lannister horde, killing two men in the process.

"Fight it is then... Let's go!"

Vesemir was the first to charge with Rodrick, Cregan, Tarkus and Edwyn following behind and Lily staying back to keep firing arrows at the Lannisters. Now, six people were going against eight thousand Lannister men, both groups armed and more than ready to kill each other. Vesemir practically jumped into the hoard of Lannisters as he emediately started slicing anyone near him. Tarkus pulled his shield forward and ran in front of the others, charging at the Lannisters. As he continued to charge towards the Lannisters they tried to make a spear wall but to no avail. Tarkus's sheer strength and size emediately tore a hole into the Lannister line of soldiers, giving way for Cregan, Rodrick and Edwyn to start killing. Rodrick sliced more and more guardsmen with his longsword, taking on five men at once while Edwyn was fighting only one-on-one. Lily only kept to the back and side and showered the Lannister men with arrows.

During all of this Cregan was also cutting down anyone in his path, in front, behind or to his sides, it didn't matter where they were coming from he just kept slicing each and every one of them down. Anyone who was wearing Lannister colors was going to die. Whilst fighting a spearmen came charging towards him but there was no hope for him, Cregan parried the spear away with Demonsteel and took a swing with Frostbite, splitting the man in half, the armor didn't slow the blade down. While fighting Cregan wore a neutral face, but something was bothering him. With every kill his eyes started to twitch, his teeth grit, his hands and knees started to shake. Only after the 50th or so kill did he finally notice.

He was getting blood-drunk once more.

 **Sansa's POV**

When she heard the news, Lyarra couldn't stop crying. Her tears would only shead profusely at first, many time whenever she felt like crying Lyarra would do her best to not but this time there was no restraint. All Sansa could do was comfort her and say thing like 'It's going to be okay' or 'He's in a better place now', Triston was also doing his best to make the girl feel better, often being in her room and giving her company almost as much as Sansa did. Today was going to be the same, but then something happened.

Sansa was in her room, sitting in front of a mirror and brushing her hair until she heard many footsteps rushing towards the door to her chambers. Before she could get up from the chair and open the door Ser Duncan barged in, his head completely covered to the brink with sweat and barely being able to breath.

"Forg-... Forgive me... my lady..." Ser Duncan barely managed to speak up, his words constantly being interuppted by heavy breathing "Ser Duncan, slow down. Tell me what happened." Sansa said in a much more calmer yet confused tone.  
"My lady... your sister... lady Arya... she's arrived" Duncan managed to spat out.  
"..." Sansa stood silent for a few seconds, much to the knight's confusion.  
"My lady?" Ser Duncan asked, finally being able to regain his breath.  
"WHAT?! WHERE IS SHE NOW?! TELL ME!" Sansa practically jumped from her chair, ran towards Duncan and started shaking him profusely.

"Main hall... MAIN HALL!" Duncan pointed his finger towards the hallway leading towards the main hall as Sansa simply pushed him away with almost inhuman strenght and ran towards the main hall.  
"Seven hells she can be frightening..." Duncan murmured to himself as he leaned his hand on the edge on a wall before begrudgingly following Sansa who was already halfway past the hallway.  
"... and apparently very fast in a dress" he once again murmured as he started running faster to catch up with Sansa.

Sansa ran past many servants, coal boys, the maester and many more people as she continued to run towards the main hall ignoring who saw her. When she finally arrived to the main hall she saw her little sister hugging her uncle and a large armored man with his back to Sansa but the only thing she could focus on was Arya.

 **Arya's POV**

The sound of someone barging in through the door made Arya quickly turn around to see her big sister Sansa, out of breath yet staring directly at her with complete and utter happines in her gaze.

"Sansa!" Arya let go of her uncle as she started to run towards Sansa with a complete smile to see her big sister agian.  
"Arya..." Sansa said in a more mellow yet happy tone as she knelt down to meet her sisters height.

The two sisters embraced each other in a long and tight hug. Both Edmure and Brynden could be heard chuckling in joy to see them so happy. "I'm so glad that your safe..." Sansa's eyes started to well up as she started crying tears of joy. Everyone in the room was either in pure joy or just happy to see their liege lords grandaughters happier that they have been since their arrival. All had smiles on their faces, all but one. The hound only stared at Sansa and Arya, no hint of joy, except that he was showing nothing but, to the trained eye, The Blackfish noticed Clegane seeming almost at the brink of tears yet keeping them quite well.

 **Vesemir's POV**

The clash of steel was heard throughout the entire town yet the only source of it was in the market square.

Vesemir fought amidst over a hundred enemies yet he had not even a scratch on him, he only continued to slice and dice his way through to Lord Crakehall who was still giving orders from the back. "Alright you bastards! Let's if any of you can land a hit on me!" Vesemir mocked the guards only for them to become even more aggresive and in return, more reckless. A swordsman ran towards him only for Vesemir to behead him and move on to another swordsman who he first cut off the man's leg's and, in mid-air, sliced his torso in half.

Whilst fighting he saw Tarkus swinging his giant greatsword, killing multiple men with each swing. He saw Rodrick, skillfuly taking on five men at once and killing all of them. He also could see Edwyn who, while not taking out as much men, was still being able to hold his own in a fight.

As he continued to observe his apprentices Vesemir could fell a slight bout of pride seeing them all holding their own so well in a fight.

Vesemir then heard some sort of, well, he didn't really know how to describe it, but it was almost like a war cry. He turned to his right while parrying and killing yet another Lannister to see the Stark boy, his face completely filled with rage, seeming almost beast-like in manner. His eyes were bloodshot as he killed dozens and dozens of men, slaughtering his way towards Crakehall.

'What in Seven Hells is wrong with him?' Vesemir thought to himself as he blocked a sword of a charging Lannister guard, grabbed the spear of another guard, and stabbed both of them, one with the spear, the other with his own sword.  
The screams of thousands of dying Lannisters filled the sky but were muffled by the thunder that started overcoming the rain. Vesemir and his group were still killing Lannisters, Cregan having the most kills out of all of them, now completely drenched in the blood of his enemies. He then noticed something, Cregan was getting injured. It didn't matter how many Lannisters he would kill, there still was the eventual sword, spear or arrow that managed to hit him. Despite that however, the Stark boy had a clear target in mind, Roland Crakehall. While he would be able to get to him, the wounds he was sustaining were becoming to much to handle. So Vesemir hatched up a plan in the middle of killing a group of seven Lannisters.

"LILY! TAKE OUT THE COMMANDER!" Vesemir shouted towards Lily, who was busy showering dozens of guards with arrows but emediately nodded towards him and started making her way.

Lily ran throughout the sides of the battlefields pulling out a knife and taking out a few more men before lodging the knife into one their throats, taking out an arrow and propeling herself using the now dead Lannister up in the air before shooting an arrow straight towards Crakehall who was too busy ordering his men to see the arrow quickly flying towards his head until it was too late.

Note:

BEFORE SOME PEOPLE START... yes, that was a 6 vs 8000 fight and the six people were winning. Now, let me explain, out of those six people we have: -Baddass old dude, Baddass fuckmaster of galactic destruction (Cregan), Baddass Mountain 2.0, Baddass teen knight, Baddass archer and Sort of, kind of, maybe baddass scholar.  
That's like, a hundred Barristan's, Grey Worm's, Oberyn's and Jaime's (before he lost his hand) ALL IN ONE, SO YEAH.

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.


	33. Chapter 32: Family Reunion

**Chapter 32: Family Reunion**

Two days the rain had poured, constantly, without any stopping. By the time the storm had passed the entire encampment was muddy and the tents completely soaked. The ground was filled to the brim with puddles. All of these things weren't going to stop the siege though.

It was early morning, Loras had quickly equipped his armor and exited his tent to see many Tarly men already prepared.

As he continued to treck throughout the muddy camp he saw Lord Tarly, sitting atop his horse on the cliff they were using to watch Bitterbridge just two days ago, fully equipped and ready for combat. His sword, Heartsbane, strapped to his back. Loras called out for a squire to also get him a horse and after a minute or two the squire got him his milk white stallion.

"I see you've gotten up early Lord Tarly" Loras rode up to Randyll who stood ever vigilantly, watching the town.  
"Aye my lord, wanted to see if Starks truly honored their words" Randyll had returned to his usual gruff and brooding act.  
"You think Cregan failed?" Loras raised an eyebrow, still worried about his friend, his worry only doubled by Tarly's words as well as the fact the deadline was almost up.  
"I don't know my lord, he could already be dead for all I know" Randyll's words didn't help assure Loras, but he knew better than to doupt Cregan.  
"Well I guess today is the day we will find out" Randyll and Loras then started to make their way to Bitterbridge, 12,000 armed soldiers following straight behind them.

The journey to Bitterbridge was somewhat difficult, the mud made both horses, carriages and footsoldiers have to march slow as to not slip on the ground. Bitterbridge was placed next to a river that split off on one side and on the other side was an open field, divoid of any forests or any trees at all. In any other situation the open field was a perfect spot for a siege camp but this wasn't that kind of situation. The entire field was filled to the brim with puddles, the small hillsides were muddy and no soldier could be able to traverse this field. Thankfully, Tarly men weren't normal soldiers, they were cold, hardened and battle-ready veterans.

"Are your men ready Lord Tarly?" Loras turned his head towards Randyll, his decorated armor clicking and clanging with each move.  
"Always my lord" Tarly spoke only three words, all clear and fully understandable.

When they finally arrived to Bitterbridge's main gates they expected Lannister banners to fly throughout the walls but there was nothing, no banners, no guards, no soldiers, absolute silence beffell both the field where the Tarly men stood and the town where the enemy army was supposed to be. The clanging of armor was heard throughout the field as many soldiers awkwardly stood into position. In front was Loras with Lord Tarly by his side, behind them were a mix of heavy and light cavalry. Even farther back were Tarly infantry and Tarly archers, equipped with both the best armor and weapons The Reach could make.

Suddenly, the doors opened and every single soldier there started to become tense. Loras and Randyll pulled out their swords with all of the soldiers doing the same but where they expected an army of Lannisters they only saw six people. Cregan, who wore bloodied leather clothing, his skin completely pale and his expression made him look more tired than he was acting, a mixture of crimson red and dark brown made him look almost like a monster. To his sides were an older man, two knights, one being almost giant-like and the other looking much more normal, a middle-aged man, who wore more travel-like clothes and was not as armed as his other companions, and a young girl, around fourteen or so who wore leather armor and a hooded cloak.

"Your late..." Loras said sarcasticaly, breathing a sigh of relief to see his good friend still alive.  
"We had some... difficulties..." Cregan said as Loras dismounted his horse and the two exchanged a handshake.  
"About eight thousand difficulties to be precise" the old man jumped in the conversation, still sticking to the side though.

Loras and Randyll turned their eyes to the old man and his little group as they raised an eyebrow at the unknown figures.

"Right, almost forgot, Loras, meet Vesemir, Rodrick, Tarkus, Edwyn and Lily" Cregan pointed at each member of his little group who bowed towards Loras as they were called out.  
"Their the ones who helped me take the town" Cregan continued only for him to stumble onto Loras.  
"Cregan!" Loras caught Cregan and leaned him on his shoulder before Cregan regained his footing and continued to talk.  
"I'm fine... I just... Seven Hells... can we just get inside... all this fresh air is making me sick" Cregan started to ramble but it was understandable, having been covered in blood and arrows sticking from some points of his body made Loras assume that he has recently been in a fight.

"Easy Cregan, come on, I think you deserved some rest" Loras then called for a squire as the squire got Cregan a horse for him and his companions.

The entire host of Reachmen then entered Bitterbridge, much to the delight of the smallfolk. Cheers could be heard throughout the entire town as they made their way to the main hall. Everything was normal until they got to the market square.

"Seven hells!" Loras spoke in disgust as he saw the entire square filled to the brim with Lannister corpses.  
"You did this?" Loras turned to Cregan who had an emotionless expression.  
"No I killed about 3,000 or so, they killed the rest" Cregan said rather non-chalantly as he pointed towards the rag-tag group of 'adventurers' as they called themselves.  
"I'm suprised you managed to kill so many and end with so little scars!" Loras said, his face filled with both awe and disbelief.  
"I'M suprised that YOU still doupt my ability to slaughter anything in my path" Cregan said in a sarcastic tone, well, what little sarcasm he could muster in his own tone.

Loras let out a long sigh of defeat, he knew about Cregan's skills in combat, he witnessed it many times himself, but to kill 3,000 men, a normal human can't do that. Cregan was no footsoldier though, in an encampment he looked like any other soldier but in the battlefield he was unstopable.

"Now let's go... I need a drink..." Cregan snapped Loras from his thoughts, his eyes were completely hollow as he stared at Loras.  
"I thought you didn't drink alcohol Cregan" Loras raised an eyebrow in confusion only for Cregan to narrow his eyes towards Loras.  
"I can start!" Cregan, for once, raised his tone in sheer anger, something very confusing for Loras.  
"Well-" Loras tried to give a witty retort only for him to be shot down emediately by Cregan's stare of complete and utter hatred.  
"Fair enough, you win..." Loras turned his head back and continued onward.

 **Robb's POV**

The road to Riverrun was a hard one. At first, hopes were high. Eddard Starks son was going to march on King's Landing and free his father with all the noble houses of The North fully ready to fight for their liege lords freedom. Now, all they wanted was revenge. Eddard Stark was dead and at first many lords wanted to march on Casterly Rock and hit the Lannisters home but Robb smartly decided to go emediately to Riverrun, deciding that defending the Riverlands was more important than go out for revenge.

After days and days of marching they finally arrived at Riverrun. Robb lead the Northern host, Greatjon and Smalljon Umber, Roose Bolton, Dacey Mormont and her mother, his closest advisors behind him as well as his mother riding beside him. As they rode closer and closer to Riverrun Robb could see his mothers eyes light up with a spark of hope to see her daughters again.

"Don't worry mother, I'm sure Sansa and Arya are safe" Robb reassured his mother.  
"I know Robb... but a mother always worries..." Catelyn turned to her son, her face was slightly pale yet she was doing very well to hide her stress.

Silence once again befell the two. The only sound that could be heard was the patting of hooves and the laughter of many Northern soldiers. Robb and Catelyn rode silent, an opposite to the back of the host, until Catelyn broke the silence.

"Was there any news about Cregan?" Catelyn spoke up.  
"The last report we had was that he was in The Stormland" Robb remembered the letter he had gotten from his brothers direwolf Sif, reminding him of the words the letter contained within them.

 _'You must not take any sides in this war, no matter what'_ those words echoed through his mind. Why did he not want them to take the fight to The Lannisters? What was he planning? He had too many questions to figure out.

The rushing waters of Riverrun hummed to the sound of thousands horses as they finally arrived to his mothers old home. Catelyn was the first to enter and dismount her horse as she met with her younger brother Edmure and uncle Brynden. The two gave Catelyn a whole-hearty hug but the only thing Robb could notice was her mothers warm smile.

"Mother!" Robb heard a childish screatch as he dismounted his horse.  
"Mother!" another scream was heard but this one was much more mature.

Both Catelyn and Robb turned to see Sansa and Arya running towards their mother with joyfull tears streaming down their cheeks. Catelyn emediately started running towards them as she knelt down and embraced her two daughters, tears now also streaming down her cheeks.

"My babies... oh my babies..." Catelyn tightened her grasp as she managed to speak up.

Both Northern lords and Riverlords let out smiles to finally see some happines in Riverrun.

After a long embrace Robb aproached his sisters along with his and his siblings direwolves. "It's good to see you two are safe" Robb spoke in a soft tone, a nice change from his stern voice that he was forced to constantly use. Sansa and Arya then practically jumped at their brother, also embracing him in utter joy.

As they continued to hug each other Sansa and Arya felt slight nudges on their legs, it was their direwolves, Lady and Nymeria.

The day was getting more and more suprising by the second. The wolves nuzzled between their masters as Robb watched, petting his wolf Greywind, who was beside him. Between the laughs and smiles of the two Stark girls and the chuckles of the lords Robb heard something. He heard his brothers wolf Sif whimpering as he looked around, probably looking around for his master but to no avail. The sight of a lone wolf desperately looking for his master made Robb's smile dissapear. This was probably how all his siblings direwolves felt while they were marching to Riverrun but Lady and Nymeria were reunited with their masters, Sif wasn't.

'Don't worry boy, we'll bring him back'

Note:

These last few chapters have been a bit longer just because I was really felling like writing and with Spring Break coming you guys can expect a lot longer chapters (3000 or so words at least).

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.


	34. Chapter 33: The North Remembers

**Chapter 33: The North Remembers**

 **Red skies...**  
 **Bloody river...**  
 **Screaming children...**  
 **The howl of wolves...**

As Cregan once again stood amidst the battle-torn lands he now knew so well the wind made him shiver from head to toe. Usually, he would come here with both swords in hand, meaning that another battle would happen, but now he had nothing. No weapons, no armor, only just simple clothing that provided the least amount of protection from the elements.

From behind he heard quiet sobs but something was off about them, he could almost recognise them.

When he turned Cregan saw his mother, kneeling down on the ground, her head held low as tears slowly streamed down her cheeks. "My babies... my babies..." she whispered, her voice constantly cracking as Catelyn's tears started streaming more profusely. All Cregan could do was watch as her mother continued to whimper to herself, the meere sight of his mother so broken made Cregan's heart completely break. No matter how much he distanced himself from people, no matter how much he distanced himself from his family, he still cared about every single one of his family members.

"My fault... all my fault..." Catelyn continued to whimper, much to Cregan's own grief.

"Mother..." Cregan tried to talk to his mother. He slowly started approaching her as he placed a hand on her shoulder, the moment his palm connected with her shoulder she stopped sobbing. Catelyn went dead silent, her face became as hollow as a lifeless shell.

Suddenly, in only a moment's notice. Catelyn let out an ear-grading screatch as she started clawing at her face, slowly tearing off the skin of her face. The screams made Cregan take a step back, his ears were pierced by the sheer loudness of her voice. Soon, the screams were quickly replaced by mad ramblings. Both her tears and the blood on her face mixed together as they slowly dripped down her cheeks and fell from her chin and onto the ground.

Then everything stopped, the screams, the mad ramblings, all gone. It was replaced by a now even more ear-piercing silence. Cregan stood looking at his mother in pure horror, her once normal and clean skin was replaced by a milky white color that coverd her entire skin, her face scarred beyond recognition. As he watched his mother staring at her hands he noticed the blood dripping from the tip of her fingers down onto her arms and clothing.

"It tickles..." Catelyn whispered, her once completely mad face now replaced by a soft yet equally mad smile.

The moment she spoke shadows started to engulf her. Cregan tried to move but the ground completely swallowed his feet, crushing them in the process. The more he struggled, the more he would be taken down but he continued to try and reach his mother. From the shadows a hand reached down onto Catelyn's face, the palm slowly carresing her cheek. Then, a black figure started emerging from the shadows until it was finally recognisable. It was Cregan's corpse.

The corpse once again carresed Catelyn's cheek with his hand, covered in rotten skin. As it did that, the corpse stared directly towards Cregan with those bloodshot eyes and soul-gouging smile. For a few seconds they stared directly at each other, Cregan's eyes were shadowed by the fear he had for his mother while his corpses seemed to almost be amused by the little spectacle he was putting on, until he finally spoke.

 _ **"Poor, poor Cat. Always so worried about her children."**_ the corpse gritted it's teeth through each word as it moved his hand to the top of Catelyn's head.  
"YOU BASTARD! LET HER GO! THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HER!" Cregan's fearfull expression was now filled with a burning rage, he knew this wasn't really his mother but he couldn't bear this sight anymore.  
 _ **"This is all your fault Cregan. They are all going to die because of you. They will die screaming."**_ the corpse then pulled out a dagger that was lodged into it's throat and placed it near Catelyn's neck.  
"NO! LET HER GO! LET HER GO!" Cregan desperately started clawing at the ground with the only hand that wasn't buried into the dirt as he tried to get out, but to no avail.

The corpse then ran his fingers through Catelyn's hair as he took a firm grasp of it and pulled her head back, placing the dagger even nearer to Catelyn's throat. As the dirt started to engulf him even more, all Cregan could see was his mother with a hollow expression and his corpse slowly starting to slice his mother's throat.

"No... not my hair... Ned loves my hair..." those were the last words he heard from his mother as the blade speed up, completely slicing her throat.

The last thing Cregan saw was his mothers lifeless corpse hitting the ground as his corpse once again laughed maniacely, stabbing itself in the proccess.

 _ **"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"**_

That was all he could hear before the ground completely consumed him. The pressure crushed his bones, he couldn't breathe, dirt entered his mouth as he felt bones cutting his lungs and heart. He wanted to scream, he wanted to scream in agony, he wanted to so badly yet the dirt in his mouth made him only release grunts of pain.

'I have to... I... I have to...'

"AGH!" Cregan screamed, leaping from his bed as sweat dropped from his face. An aching pain engulfing his every muscle as blood poured from his nose and got stuck in his mouth, making him give out slight coughs between his heavy breathing. He emediately looked around to see his room completely empty with no one in it but him. The sheer amount of blood pouring made Cregan have to now wash his face instead of just wiping it away with his sleeve but when he tried to get up Cregan fell to the ground, he couldn't even feel his legs. He couldn't feel any of his bones.

'I can't... I can't do this anymore...'

 **Robb's POV**

Robb sat near a table with his closest advisors sitting next to him. In front of them was a Lannister courier, some 3rd or 4th cousin branch member of the family that no one would care about if he died on the way here. The courier made his case that The Lannisters sought a truce and was only meet with the vicious roars of The Northern lords as well as the hisses of The Riverlords.

"Enough" Robb silenced all of the lords as he continued to speak.

"What is your name lad?" he looked towards the courier, who was shivering at the presence of the entire Northern and Riverland lords.  
"W-Wendell my lord..." he said rather meakly, grabbing both of his hands and taking a bow.  
"Very well Wendell, tell me again what Lord Tywin wanted" Robb said in a much more calmer yet authorotive tone.

"My lord, Lord Tywin says that he will be happy to sign a truce to ensure peace continues. The bones of Lord Eddard, your father, will be returned to his family and you will continue to rule as Warden of The North when you and your vassals swear fealty to his grace King Joffrey" the demands Tywin was giving seemed fair but nevertheless all of the lords scoffed at the couriers words, as did Robb.

"He expects to bend my knee to the man that murdered my father in cold blood?" Robb stood up from his chair, his face more menacing than it had ever been.  
"My lord?" Wendell started shaking even more profusely at the Stark lord.

"Tell Lord Tywin we will not bow. Tell him that there are currently 40,000 men marching to the Westerlands to see if he really does shit gold." Robb's words made his lords all roar up in cheers as the courier continued to look at Robb, confused and completely terrified. During all of that Robb's face was dead serious, every single word he spoke dripping with confidence as well as pure rage as his eyes were fixed on Wendell.

"My lord, no one has ever beaten Lord Tywin. Forgive my words but to go against him is almost suicide by itself." the courier tried to discourage Robb but it all fell on deaf ears.

"Mark my words Wendell, we will remember what happened to my father..."  
"... The North will never forget"

Note:

So yeah this chapter was probably reaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllly disturbing with the whole Cregan dream sequence so I want to ask you guys something. What are your thoughts on the dream sequences? Should I calm it down a bit? Should I just go 'Fuck it' and go all out? YOU DECIDE!

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.


	35. Chapter 34: No Regrets

**Chapter 34: No Regrets**

Renly is dead.

During the capture of Bitterbridge he was assasinated however no one knows who he was assasinated by but the safest bet was Stannis. After his death, all of Renly's army split into two sides, The Reachmen, who emediately withdrew from the Stormlands, and The Stormlanders, who bent their knee to Stannis the moment he came back to Renly's camp. As for Cregan, he decided that it was time to finally meet back with his family, Vesemir and his group decided to tag along for reasons Cregan couldn't figure out.

And so they started traveling towards the Riverlands with only their weapons, their clothing and armor as well as the bare neccesities in terms of supplies. Most days were filled with traveling with the only conversations being between Cregan's companions as he wasn't quite in the mood for talking. They would stop at the usual inn for a good nights rest before continuing with the routine, travel as far as you can before passing out from exhaustion.

Despite him not communicating much, Cregan did occasionaly converse with Vesemir, who was proving to be good enough company.

Vesemir would tell Cregan of their grand adventures, of how they would explore lost tombs, how they would take contracts and bounties as well as tales of their travels throughout the entirity of Westeros. Many were exhagarated of course but some sounded like flat out lies and completely unbelievable. One day the group decided to take an entire days break from travel seeing as they ran into an inn. In the inn, Vesemir once again spun a tale for Cregan.

Three years ago, Vesemir and his group were traveling along the roads of The North when they stumbled across a village. The smallfolk in the village were all bruised, beaten or completely injured. Their homes burned down and most of their fields and croops rotten beyond belief. When they asked who did this most of the villagers were reluctant to answer but the man who they presumed to be the elder took a step forward. "Bandits" the elder started, "They come here every week to extort more and more of our goods and when we refuse to give them any... well... you can see the results". The state of the village was horrendous that it made Lily almost throw up from the smell of rotting crops and dead animals while Tarkus only looked around the village, his face neutral yet equally disgusted by the sight. However, the most disturbed by this seemed to be Rodrick, who only stared at the almost dead villagers with a glare of empathy. Vesemir noted all these things, he knew the effects bandits would cause on simple villagers, and he knew how these things would always end, a village razed and the scum who raised it even more fat from it's spoils. And so he decided to help course it wasn't as simpled as it sounded. The bandits consisted of a large group of deserters, highwaymen and simple looters. The villagers said there were about 400 of them, the largest group of bandits Vesemir and his friends had faced so far. Vesemir by himself could probably take them all on but not without taking massive amounts of wounds, Tarkus and Rodrick were extremely skilled but the bandits were bound to have archers and Tarkus can only cover them for so long. Edwyn would be preoccupied by healing the wounded villagers and Lily wasn't much help in a massive battle, her only sort of combat skill being with her small hunting knife, she still wasn't the expert marksman she is now, so she would also help the villagers for now. Despite the odds semingly being against them Vesemir had a plan, he would train the villagers. Those who were able to still fight and were willing were trained in whatever combat manner they could muster. The villagers, suprisingly, were quite adept in combat, many of them were hunters who knew how to wield spears and bows, others wielded scythes, pitchforks and other makeshift weapons. Rodrick would train the hunters, teaching them more in the ways of the bow and spear while Tarkus and Vesemir tried to whip the less experienced villagers into so they trained for a full week, stopping only to eat, drink and sleep. Until the day finally came, with their training they managed to make around 83 or so villagers ready for combat, less than Vesemir had expected but the deadline had come and the bandits arrived spirits weren't that high. It was about 80 or so unexperienced villagers and 3 men that actually knew what they doing against 400 bloodthirsty bandits. Vesemir, Rodrick and Tarkus made their way in front of the village alongside the villagers to meet the bandits were a 'riff-raff group of misfits' as Vesemir called them, avoiding calling them a 'Shit-eating band of cunts', because at that time Lily was also listening in on the story as well as Rodrick. The leader of the band was called Mamluk, a horrendous man, his face scarred beyond belief and his odor was as bad as rotting skin.

As Vesemir continued his tale all of the people in the tavern were already gathered around their table, many of them were farmers and fishermen who listened closely, the story seeming almost like from a fairy tale.

Vesemir and Mamluk exchanged names before the bandits all attacked the village and thus, the battle began. Vesemir, Rodrick and Tarkus were the first to clash with the bandits with the villagers having pitchforks charging first after them and the hunters staying back and showering the bandits with arrows. While Rodrick and Tarkus fought as many bandits as they could, Vesemir fought Mamluk one-on-one. They battle raged on for hours, Vesemir fought Mamluk, taking down the occasional bandit who tried to take him by suprise, Tarkus cleaved through dozens of bandits while Rodrick took a bandit down with every second that passed. Meanwhile, the villagers were doing their best to fight the bandits. Despite their number advantage, the bandits weren't nearly as combat trained as the villagers. Most of their attacks were mad swings, not having any direction or precision while the villagers were trained to be able to dodge and parry most of their swings.

Vesemir and Mamluk stood between each other, Mamluk wielded a two-sided battleaxe while Vesemir had his longsword, which he affectionately called 'FlameSinger'. Amongst the bandits, Mamluk proved to be the greatest and most powerfull fighter of them and proved to be quite the nuisance for Vesemir. While a heated battle was going on around them, all they could focus on was each other. The fight was tiring, Mamluk's sheer strength and brutality was almost matching Vesemir's speed and nimble nature, which was equally brutal. It was a hard fought battle but in the end, Vesemir stood victourious.

Mamluk laid defeated, on his knees and clutching his wounds to stop the bleeding. "Yield?" Vesemir raised his sword toward Mamluk's face. "F-... Fuck you old man..." Mamluk said as he spat blood at Vesemir's feet. To his response Vesemir spoke no words, he only let out a sly smirk before swinging FlameSinger, decapitating Mamluk and ending the battle.

That's where Vesemir ended his story, resulting in the pleads of many farmers to continue.

"Sorry lads but the rest of the story isn't that interesting" Vesemir sighed as he jugged down another cup of ale, on the house.  
"Please Ser! Just tell us what happened to the village and it's people" one of the younger fishermen pleaded with Vesemir, clasping his hands together only for Vesemir to chuckle.

"Alright, alright... if you all really want to know..." Vesemir once again started.

In the end of it all the bandits dispersed the moment Mamluk died, terrified of how viciously maimed their leader was. The fact that 85 people won against 400 wasn't the most unbelievable thing though. The fact that no villagers died during the entire battle was the most confusing thing, some were injured however but none were above a bruise or some cuts and scratches. To wrap the story short Vesemir went straight to the end. The bandits were defeated and the village saved, in a show of gratitude the villagers rounded up as much supplies as they can and offered it to them as a reward. However Vesemir refused, stating that they needed it much more than he or his companions did.

And so they rode off into the sunset, a village saved and a giant group of bandits defeated. An ending almost fitting of a fairy tale due to it's sheer unbeliavable nature but Cregan knew better. He fought alongside them, he saw their combat skills first hand and after their whole debauckle in Bitterbridge, they earned themselves Cregan's respect.

 **3 hours later...**

Through the evening Vesemir told all the tales of their adventures to the many people in the inn. All of it took so long that, by the end of it, the sun had already set. Cregan and Rodrick sat beside Vesemir with Lily falling asleep and leaning on Rodrick's shoulder. When Vesemir told his last tale, all of the people dispersed, the farmers and fishermen went to their homes, some sellswords and traveling mercenaries that were also listening went to their rooms for the night, Rodrick carried Lily to her room, being sure not to wake her up. With all the listeners leaving the only people that were left were Vesemir and Cregan.

Out of the entire crowd, Cregan seemed to be lost in his thoughts, staring intentively at his drink with wandering eyes.

"Something wrong lad?" Vesemir turned to Cregan with his friendly smile that he would often use to charm men into not killing him, or to charm their wives into bed.  
"You look worried..." Vesemir continued, to no response from Cregan.  
"..." Cregan stayed silent, continously staring at his drink while scratching at the handle of his cup.  
"Your thinking about that lass Margaery aren't you?" Vesemir's words made Cregan clock his head instantly towards Vesemir.  
"Ah, so I was right" Vesemir said rather proudly, taking a sip from his drink in the process.

"H-" Cregan was confused at Vesemir's powers of observation. Cregan would usually do his best to not show any emotions, giving even the best people readers a challenge. But Vesemir figure him out almost instantly.

"How? Listen lad, I've propably been with more women than Robert Fucking Baratheon. Some of them was out of love, some were because I just wanted a night of fun, but in my years of experience trust me when I say this. I know when two people are in love. You think I didn't notice how you two looked at each other in Renly's camp." Vesemir started to boast about his skills in romance, jugging down the rest of his last drink.  
"Get to the point Vesemir" Cregan returned to his neutral face, also taking one last sip from his drink.  
"My point, dear Stark, is that you have to stop thinking about how much you love her and show how much you love her" Vesemir's 'Words of Wisdom' as he would often call them made Cregan raise an eyebrow.

"Stop thinking about the consequences of your decisions. In this world, every day we live out could be our last." Vesemir continued only to be cut off by Cregan.  
"So what? Your saying we run away together? That I kidnap Mace Tyrell's only daughter like Rhaegar did with my aunt?" the mention of Rhaegar Targaeryen made Vesemir's eyes sour up a bit before returning to his normal, drunk expression.  
"What would you rather do? Live and die regreting the fact that you were never able to tell each other how you felt?" Vesemir now shared Cregan's cinycism in tone yet his was much more softer and well spoken.

"The only thing were allowed to do is to believe we don't regret the decision's we make. We must make our choices, and live with them for the rest of our lives".

 **Later that night...**

Cregan couldn't sleep. Something that was becoming an ongoing thing due to his nightmares becoming more and more frequent. He still felt his bones ache whenever he would think of his last nightmare. Cregan decided the best thing to do was to avoid sleep, so he just kept himself awake by either polishing his blades or doing other trivial things. Tonight was different though, Cregan couldn't sleep because of what Vesemir told him. Any thought of Margaery would usually cheer him up, but now all he could feel is worry for her. What was going to happen to her? What was The Reach going to do? What side would they take? All these thoughts ran through Cregan's mind. Then something snapped in him, he started humming a song. The song that would always bring life back to him. After a few seconds of humming, he quietly started singing...

 _'Chairs so close a room so small'_  
 _'You and I talk all the night long'_  
 _'Meager this space but serves us all well'_  
 _'We comrades have stories to tell'_

 _'And it's always like that in the evening time'_  
 _'We drink and we sing when our fighting is done'_  
 _'And it's always so we live under the burnt clouds'_  
 _'Ease our burden long is the night'_

 _'Dust and smoke, stars can't be seen'_  
 _'We all starve for a moonbeam on our town'_  
 _'We must all gather as one'_  
 _'Sing with hope and our fear will be gone'_

All his worries dissapeared, he stopped thinking about the dangers of the world when he felt his eyes starting to get heavy. The song was almost like a lullaby for him, the moment he started singing made Cregan smile once again. His memories of Highgarden returned. Willas, Garlan, Loras, Margaery, he remembered all of them and their times together.

As the last bout of conciousness left Cregan's mind, he didn't have a care in the world. Cregan then fell asleep, calm for the first time in weeks.

Note:

Alright. Phew, another longer chapter.

Now, I want to ask you all a question. What do you guys think about Cregan? I want your honest thoughts and opinion on Cregan. Feel free to be constructive but PLEASE no flame.

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.


	36. Chapter 35: Almost There

**Chapter 35: Almost There**

"Long time since we've been in Riverrun" Vesemir broke the silence in the group as they all rode closer and closer to the city.  
"Should be about two years now?" Edwyn joined in the conversation.  
"Remember our little incident in the Riverrun brothel" Tarkus also joined in, clicking and clanging his armor with every move of the head and wave of the hand.

Cregan's companions continued in their little smalltalk while he rode in front, completely ignoring them. Their journey wasn't quite eventfull so they had to find a way to pass the time. While Vesemir, Tarkus and Edwyn continued to chuckle and laugh Rodrick and Lily kept to the back and remained silent, out of the five, they seemed to be the most quiet of them.

On the road to Riverrun Cregan learned more about all of them. Tarkus, Rodrick, Edwyn and Lily all owe Vesemir their lives.

Tarkus was once a reaver from the Iron Islands. During the last Greyjoy rebellion Tarkus was fighting on Great Wyk and during the battle he was gravely wounded, he would have been dead if not for Vesemir and Edwyn the then still lone traveling scholar. After the battle on Great Wyk Vesemir managed to drag Tarkus to a healer who just happened to be Edwyn, who was then just a traveling scholar that was also saved by Vesemir amidst the battle with a nack for healing. There the three first meet and quickly became friends. Tarkus was reluctant at first to trust Vesemir and Edwyn while Edwyn was also skeptical on why he should bandage up the enemy but Vesemir quickly ended the two's squabble and in the end, Tarkus lived.

While the story on how Tarkus and Edwyn meet Vesemir was touching, Rodrick and Lily's story was the most tragic of the four.

The two are brother and sister, something that can be noticable if you look at their features you could see that they share some aspects. Rodrick was seven and Lily was only four years old when they lost their home, friends and family. The two lived in The Westerlands in a small fishing village on the northern coast, the coast nearest to the Iron Islands. Their lives were fairly normal until reavers attacked, razing their entire village to the ground and killing anyone they saw. The only reason Rodrick and Lily survived was because of Vesemir. Before the reavers could kill them Vesemir stumbled across just in the nick of time and, almost like in the stories, the brave adventurer saved the young children. This story didn't have a happy ending though, well, not in the usual sense. Rodrick and Lily were now homeless and orphans, they had nowhere to go and were too young to take care of themselves. Vesemir, in a spout of kindness or simpathy, took the two under his wing and taught them everything he knew.

Cregan didn't know if they all followed Vesemir out of respect, gratitude or if they didn't have anywhere else to go. But one thing was sure, they were all close to one another and have been fighting together for years.

Many things ran through Cregan's mind, with every step closer to Riverrun he got, Cregan became more and more worried. He didn't know why he was worried but something kept scratching at the back of his head. Ever since that nightmare Cregan wanted to get to Riverrun as fast as he could, only stopping to eat, drink and sleep. As usual, Cregan rode in front, always being ten steps ahead of everyone else. He kept a slightly faster pace than the others, the breeze made him close his eyes for a second, his auburn hair flickering in the wind. The cold wind had Cregan letting out a small sigh of relaxation before he heard someone calling for him, resulting in Cregan opening his eyes.

"Oi Cregan!" a voice kept calling for him resulting in Cregan turning his head backwards.  
"How long till we get to Riverrun?" Vesemir was the one who seemed to be calling out to him.

Cregan narrowed his eyes towards his companions, annoyed that they broke his little moment of silence, before slowing his horse down and finally responding.

"Should be about two or three days now, maybe more" Cregan rejoined the group while still staying at the front.  
"And you think that your brother will still be there?" Vesemir asked while turning his head towards Cregan.  
"He'll be there..." Cregan put it bluntly, while his tone didn't give out anything Vesemir could hear a hint of worry in his voice.

 **Later in the night...**

Cregan and his group had made camp off the road. Rodrick, Tarkus, Edwyn and Lily were sleeping while Cregan and Vesemir were indulging in their usual conversations. During their travels he had also learned some things about Vesemir, but most of them were from his stories.

From what little Cregan could figure out, Vesemir was a bastard born in King's Landing. His mother was a serving girl that was raped by some up-stuck noble wanting to have a night of fun. He spent most of his early life in FleaBottom working as a thief, smuggler, extorter and many other suspicious things that he didn't want to mention. When he turned fourteen he managed to make enough money for him to leave King's Landing and buy a small house in The Reach. Four years later he joined a mercenary group and was one of the lucky ones who managed to survive. The rest of his thirty or so years he spent traveling all across both Westeros and Essos. Vesemir didn't praise himself much though. Through his journeys he earned many riches but the only things he would always carry was his black leather armor and his longsword FlameSinger.

"Vesemir, can I ask you something?" the mention of Vesemir's longsword snapped a thought into Cregan's mind.  
"Ask away Stark" Vesemir said while taking a sip from his skin of water.  
"Where did you get your sword?" the mention of FlameSinger made Vesemir stiffen up a bit, his skin started to become pale and his eyebrows completely raised in suprise.  
"Oh... this old thing... I uh-... I..." Vesemir started to stutter, something incredibly odd for him, usualy, whenever someone would ask him a question he would start some grand story.  
"I got it from a blacksmith in Qohor" he regained his composure and once again started to speak clearly.

Normally this would have been a good enough response, but this wasn't a kind of response Vesemir would give. This was just a simple sentence, no overembelishing, no grand tale, nothing, for someone like Vesemir it almost seemed like an excuse.

"That's it, you didn't take down a dothraki horde or something?" Cregan had a cinycal tone as he continued to interrogate Vesemir.  
"We'll there was this gang that was extorting the blacksmith..." Vesemir said rather non-chalantly and more like it was a joke.

As the old man continued the story it seemed like every other story he would tell but Cregan was smarter than to believe him now. Vesemir was lying through his teeth, making everything up as he went. Before he could continue his story however Cregan cut him off.

"Cut the shit Vesemir" Cregan saw right through his lies, cutting him off mid-sentence.

"All right, all right, listen, if you want the true story then I'll t-"

Before Vesemir could even start speaking the truth a thunderstorm could be heard coming from the south. Vesemir emediately sprang upwards and stood on his feet as he strapped his longsword to his side.

"Oh would you look at that, rain's coming, we should probably find a cave for cover, Cregan, we can continue this conversation never!" Vesemir said in a rather jolly and relieved tone, almost sliding towards the others and waking them up while Cregan kept sitting on the ground staring at the old man with his soul piercing stare while Vesemir continued to lightly tap his companions, waking them up in the process.

 _ **'What do you think he's hiding?'**_  
'I don't know'  
 _ **'But your curious aren't you'**_  
'Yes, I am'  
 _ **'I doupt he's going to just flat out tell you though'**_  
'Maybe, but one way or another, every secret is spilled, be it now or later'

 **Triston's POV**

Triston continued to train in the courtyard as the moon lit the entirity of Riverrun and the water of their rivers glimered the entire night. Many of his days and nights in Riverrun were spent training, it seemed that his days as Cregan's squire rubbed off on him. Triston might not have been the best fighter and he was certainly not the best swordsman but his speed alone made him formidable enough in a fight. Triston wielded a shortsword that was very much similiar to Demonsteel, it was had a curved guard that was intended for parrying and a blade that would become slimer as it reached the tip, meant for stabbing.

He continued to bash, slash and stab the training dummy with all his force but sadly his strength had to be traded for speed in Triston's situation. Whilst he drove his sword into the dummy's head Triston recalled one of Cregan's lessons during one of their many sparing sessions.

'Never drive your blade to deep into your enemy, if you do, then it will probably get stuck and leave you unarmed and open for attacks'

And just on point, the blade got stuck into the dummy's head. "Seven hells..." Triston murmured to himself, forcefully trying to pull the sword out of the wooden head but to no avail. No matter how much he struggled Triston would just slip off from the handle and fall to the ground.

"Need any help?" a female voice came from behind Triston which made him emediately spring from the ground in suprise.

When Triston turned around he saw Arya standing there with a small smile on her face, she wore an ever so slightly tattered blue and white dress and held her hair in a ponytail. As Triston shook the dirt of his clothes Arya slowly walked over to the training dummy and now was standing beside Triston. While he was dusting himself off he didn't even notice Arya standing next to him and jumped away from her in suprise, once again falling to the ground resulting in Arya letting out a small giggle.

"I'm sorry my lady, you startled me" Triston's cheeks flushed red out of embarasment.  
"Don't worry about it, I am quite known for suprising people" Arya once again let out a small giggle as she offered a helping hand.  
"Thank you my lady" Triston gladly accepted Arya's helping hand as the two now were at equal height.

As Triston got up he notice something nugging his leg. When he looked down he noticed a pair of wolf eyes staring directly at him, it was Nymerya, Arya's direwolf. The wolf seemed to have remembered Triston from their last meeting in King's Landing when Triston managed to free both her and Lady from their pens. Triston was suprised by this to say the least, not a lot of people would notice him, especially not animals. Much of his life he has in lived in other people's shadow, especially during his time as Cregan's squire. The little people who would notice him would always think of him not as Triston, but as Triston Stone. That wasn't the thing with the Starks though, they seemed to keep good relations with all their household, high and low alike.

"She seems to like you" Arya snapped Triston from his thoughts.  
"Yes, looks like she does" Triston lightly petted the direwolf on her head.  
"Sansa told me how you rescued Nymerya and Lady..." Arya said, her face becoming slightly softer and her voice more calming.  
"I... well, I wanted to thank you. For saving both my sister and Nymerya." Arya blushed a bit as she scratched the back of her foot with her other leg.  
"Oh... I- It's was nothing my lady truly, I simply followed your brother Cregan's instructions" Triston tried to play it off as casualy as possible but he wasn't use to getting any sort of praise, especially from a noblewoman.

The two stood in awkward silence before Arya once again spoke up.

"So... you still need help with your sword?" Arya stopped blushing as she looked past Triston towards the dummy who still had a blade through it's head.  
"Ah, yes... the sword..." Triston once again started mumbling awkwardly but then quickly shut up as the two put their hands on the handle of his sword.

It took some effort, both Triston and Arya weren't that strong but together they barely managed to pull out the shortsword as they both stumbled back. Arya almost fell onto the ground if not for Triston, who managed to catch her before she could fall. The two took a quick glance towards each other as their eyes meet, they quickly separated from each other as they both awkwardly cleared their throats.

"Th-..." Arya tried to let out a response before clearing her throat and trying again.  
"Thank you Triston" she turned around and smiled towards Triston who returned the smile.

"Of course my lady".

Note:

Sorry that this chapter took a bit longer, had a bit of writers block but don't worry the next chapter will come out sooner I promise and I think a lot of you Robb Stark fans are going to love the next chapter (*if you know what I mean*).

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.


	37. Chapter 36: The King in The North

**Chapter 36: The King in The North**

 **Flashback**

It was just another day in Winterfell. Early morning and Eddard had already gotten up, dressed himself and ate breakfast, normally he would be the only one to do this so early but today as well as the next few days were going to be different. Cregan was visiting from The Reach and all of his siblings were intent to spend as much time as they could together. He could only stay for a week and of those seven days five had already passed. During those five days he has spent a lot of time with Robb, Sansa, Arya and Bran and with Rickon only being two years old he still wasn't used to their games. Cregan would spar with Robb, Theon and Jon, beating each one of them to the dirt every time, he would sing with his twin Sansa, much to the delight of their mother, and he would teach Bran and Arya in the ways of the sword and bow, being much less brutal in their sparring sessions than with his older brothers and Theon.

All of these things made Eddard smile. He was glad that, even though he had spent more than eight years in The South, Cregan's home was The North and he could still connect with his family. But something was different though, something that made Eddard worried, since he turned ten Eddard didn't see his second son laugh or smile once, he saw no emotion in his face or eyes, no happines in his voice or tone. This had only gotten worse with each year that passed, every time that Cregan would visit his family Eddard could see a difference in attitude. Eddard was once the same, shy, timid, silent, many of these things Cregan replicated. However, unlike Eddard who was shy yet would still talk to other people, Cregan seemed to outright avoid people or any sort of conversation, the rare times he would talk would always be with either his siblings, Eddard or Catelyn.

As he continued to think about his son Eddard's smile dissapeared, he started to become more and more worried before deciding he should probably just talk to Cregan and try to find out why he is acting like this.

Eddard then started to look for Cregan, he started with the courtyard where Rodrick Cassel was tutoring Robb, Jon and Theon in sword fighting. When he asked about Cregan all of them only shrugged in cloulessness stating that they haven't seen him all day. Eddard then went to Arya and Bran, who were practising archery, he expected an answer from them but just like in the courtyard they only shrugged and said that they haven't seen him all day. Eddard was starting to get worried, it was unusual for nobody to atleast see Cregan but there was one last person who Eddard was sure would know where Cregan was, Sansa.

When Eddard got to Sansa's chamber doors he could her humming happily. Eddard then knocked on her door, "Come in!" he heard Sansa say from the other end. He entered the room to see her in front of a mirror and brushing her hair softly. Sansa had a warm, innocent smile on her face, usually the complete opposite expression to her twin Cregan.

"What is it father, you look worried?" Sansa said with her own bit of worry, noticing her fathers tired expression even though it was still morning.  
"Sansa, have you seen Cregan anywhere?" Eddard finally responded, avoiding his daughters question to not make her suspicious.  
"No... well, not that I can remember." she said while raising her eyebrow, now even more confused.  
"That's just perfect" Eddard murmured to himself while still clinging on the handle of Sansa's chamber doors.  
"Actually, come to think of it he did tell me that he was going to visit the crypts today" Sansa once again spoke up resulting in her father widening his eyes for a moment.

Eddard then rushed to his daughter, "Thank you sweetie!" he kissed on her forehead before rushing out of her room, leaving Sansa completely confused.

"What did I do?" Sansa confusingly said to no one but herself.

Eddard rushed to the crypts, praying that Cregan was actually there. When he got to the entrance of the crypts Eddard suddenly stopped, his heart slowed down as he regained his breath. Despite him wanting to find his son down there, Eddard didn't know if Cregan was even down there anymore, but he knew who was down there and Eddard wanted anything other than to see them again and be reminded of his failures. But even with all those things Eddard only took a deep breath before finally entering the crypts.

In the crypts very little could be seen, the little light all the torches gave out however was enough to see where someone was going. With the darkness also ruled an ear-piercing silence, every footstep, every breath, every twitch could be heard. Eddard continued to search for his son, intentionaly avoiding the one spot where Cregan would most likely be. He continued to search for him until he took a big gulp and looked to the last place.

He turned the corner to see Cregan staring at the statues of his grandfather, Rickard, his uncle Brandon and his aunt, Lyanna. "Cregan..." Eddard murmured only for his son to slowly turn his head towards him. Cregan stared at his father for a few more seconds, his gaze having not even the slightest amount of emotion, before turning back to the statue of Lyanna and picking up the blue winter rose from the statue's hand.

"Father..." Cregan once again turned to Eddard who stood frozen as he stared at his son in silence.

"... what did you promise her? What did you promise Aunt Lyanna?"

 **End of Flashback**

 **Robb's POV**

Being the next Warden of The North was something Robb was training for his entire life but he nexer expected it to happen like this. Just a few months ago he was only Ned Stark's eldest son and The Heir to Winterfell, now, he's leading both The North and The Riverlands against two kings now. Now that Renly was dead almost all of his vassals were slowly egging him on to join Stannis and if it were up to Robb he would join him, but Robb knew better than to question Cregan's intentions, if he told him to take no sides then The North will take no sides. However, despite Robb clearly stating they won't turn to Stannis many of The Riverlords still want to support him, another thing to add to his stress.

Whilst they bickered and squabelled The Westerlands were around raiding around the edges of The Riverlands, burning and pillaging anything in their path as well as taking Harenhall, another large blow to their defenses.

In response, Robb sent a host of around 5,000 men, lead by his uncle Edmure, to defend the Western defense lines of The Riverlands and try to repel The Lannister forces until the remaining Norhtern lords come to Riverrun. Now, Robb was sitting in the main hall with all of his lords as they discussed their next move. The forces of both The North and The Riverlands amounted to about 50,000 in total.

In the main hall were almost all the Riverlords as well as the Northern lords. Houses Umber, Glover, Mormont, Bolton, Manderly, Dustin and others sat on one side while Houses Bracken, Blackwood, Frey, Erenford, Whent, Mallister, Mooton and others sat opposite of The Northern lords. Many of the lords wanted to go on the offensive and attack The Lannisters in their own territory while the other side was suggesting they take King's Landing and take Cersei and her children hostage.

"We should march for Casterly Rock!" one of the lords shouted out, causing many to roar in aggrement.  
"The capital is less defended, we could march there and take it easily!" another lord shouted out with an equal amount of roars supporting him.

These kinds of arguments filled the entire hall, the conversation lasted hours as Robb listened to every lords stance. After three hours of pure arguments it was time for Robb to make a decision. He stood up from his chair as all the lords went silent, carefully listening as they anticipated what their liege lord was going to say.

"We cannot march on Casterly Rock, nor can we march on the capital, not yet anyways. For now, we focus on taking back out territory in the Riverlands and defend it until we are sure it is secure." Robb spoke with as much authoroty as he could, many of the lords silently scoffed at their liege lords decision but respected his orders as there was truth in his words. It was then did all of them disperse as the only people who were left were Robb his mother, The Blackfish and his sister Sansa. Robb sat back in his chair, leaning his back on the chair and rubbing his forehead with his two fingers.

'Seven Hells Cregan, do you have to make my position as difficult as possible?' Robb thought to himself as he once again got up from his chair and leaned on the table where a map of Westeros was placed. On the map were many figurines, some of them had the wolf head of House Stark, some had the fish of House Tully while others had the lion head of House Lannister and the stag of House Baratheon. Robb looked at each figurine, strategising their next move in the proccess.

"Perhaps we should focus on taking Harrenhall back" his mother suggested as she walked over to the table and stood beside Robb.  
"A lot of The Lannister forces are stationed within Harenhall and if they lose it then it will be massive dent in their army" Catelyn continued, much to the suprise of Robb, Sansa and Brynden.  
"Mother, since when did you become a war strategist?" Sansa said with a slight smile on her face as she also approached the table.  
"What do you think your father and I talked about during all those nights in bed" Catelyn let out a soft chuckle as both Robb and Sansa widened their eyes a bit.  
"Ew, mother please, we do not need that kind of information" Robb said in bitter tone, his cheeks going slightly red from embarasment as his grand-uncle Brynded chuckled.

As they continued to chuckle for a few more moments a knock came from the doors, "Come in!" Robb said as the doors opened to reveal Theon entering with a slight smile on his face. Robb became suspicious of Theon's smile as it seemed a lot more devious than it seemed.

"Forgive me my lord but you have a visitor" Theon said, his smile dissapearing for a bit before it returned to his face.  
"Whoever it is they can wait" Robb retorted, turning back to his map before being met with a familiar voice.

"Is that any way to treat your brother?" a male voice came from the doors resulting in everyone turning their head towards the entrance.

At first, Robb couldn't believe it, but there he was. Cregan stood in front of the doors, he wore dirty leather clothes as well as a slightly tattered black cloak with a hood. Cregan's face was covered in small scratches that cut just deep enough to leave scars but the most noticable wound was a large scar over his left eye but thankfully that was all it was, a scar. Cregan had the slightest trace of a smile on his face that was even less noticable than usual due to him now having a stubble while Robb, Catelyn and Sansa looked at him in shock and disbelief to see him again.

Sansa was the first to have her senses return to her. She ran to Cregan as the twins embraced each other. "Brother..." she whispered, her smile becoming wider as both her and Cregan wrapped their arms around each other. "I'm glad to see you too Sansa..." Cregan gave a simple response before then hugging his mother. During that Robb still stood silent before taking a few steps towards his brother.

"It's good to see you again Cregan" Robb said in a much softer voice, a nice change from his usual tone.  
"You too brother" Cregan now had the least noticable smile on his face but it was still a smile.

"I have a lot to tell all of you but first, do you mind if I get some clean clothes."

 **Meanwhile, in King's Landing...**

As Tyrion sat in his chair he listened to his sister babble on about the superioroty of the capital's defenses and that their enemies couldn't even dream of taking King's Landing. Tyrion knew better than that though, The Lannisters were fighting on two fronts and as his father focused on the war with Robb Stark, Stannis marched on King's Landing with an army of 40,000. King's Landing didn't have nearly enough men to defend it.

"Lord Varys, any news from our father in The Riverlands?" Tyrion turned to Varys who was sitting beside him as he spoke.  
"He is currently stationed in Harenhall, along with the majority of The Westerland army." Varys reported only for Cersei to scoff at Tyrion.

"I don't see why you are worried so much about father, he can easily take care of those mongrels in The North" Cersei said with a wicked smile on her face.  
"You underestimate The Starks too much dear sister." Tyrion said cinicaly, leaning back on his chair as he looked at the map of King's Landing.  
"What are you talking about Tyrion?" Cersei raised her eyebrows as she glared daggers at Tyrion.  
"My point, dear sister, is that, by killing Ned Stark, you have succesfully angered the most dangerous man in Westeros!" Tyrion responded only for Cersei to scoff at him again.  
"Robb Stark is a child, he is no match for father!" Cersei once again boasted about their fathers prowess in war before she was interrupted by Tyrion.  
"I'm not talking about Robb Stark, I'm talking about his little brother." Tyrion words made Cersei stiffen up a bit as Lord Varys interupted the two's bickering.

"Your grace, Lord Tyrion is right. From what my little birds have told me, Cregan Stark was the one who took Bitterbridge from us..." Varys said as softly as he could, trying not to offend the queen.  
"Tell me Lord Varys, how many men did your little birds say he had with him?" Tyrion turned his head to Lord Varys but his eyes were fixed on Cersei.  
"None my lord, he had killed the entire garrison single-handedly" Varys's response made Tyrion faint suprise as he turned to Cersei with a cocky smile.  
"My my, one man against ten thousand, quite a feat wouldn't you say sister?" Tyrion said, his ego becoming even bigger as Cersei only clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

Tyrion was satisfied for now, he had won this argument and after only a few moments of silence they all went back to planning the defense of the capital.

 **Vesemir's POV**

Vesemir and his companios stood at the corner of the room, out of sight from the many lord's that occupied the main hall. While Rodrick, Lily, Tarkus and Edwyn only quietly talked amongst each other Vesemir watched as the noble lords bickered amongst each other. One said that they should join Stannis, the other said they should just march on Casterly Rock. Vesemir chuckled internaly at their debates, 'This is the nobility of our land?' he thought to himself.

"We will not bow to Stannis" Robb declared, his fierce roar silneced any arguments from the lords.

Silence then overcame the hall, many of the lords stood silent for a few more moments before another northern lord who Vesemir could recognise, Gregor Forrester.

"My lord Stark, forgive me but you cannot expect us to only sit here and stay neutral in this war" the lord pleaded his case only for Robb to look at him as he continued.  
"I do not know what your plan is but unless you intend to tell us our only option is to proclaim Stannis as king..." before Robb could speak up another voice came from behind him.

"Tell me something Lord Gregor, do you worship the old gods?" Cregan came from behind his older brother, now looking much more presentable as a noble.  
"Aye my lord, I do" the lord said confidently yet confused by Cregan's question.  
"And how many of you here worship either the old gods or the new" Cregan then turned to all the lords who simply nodded or grunted in response.  
"If you were to tell Stannis that you worshipped these gods then he would have you burned alive" his words made the entire hall fill with whispers of suprise, disbelief or confusion.  
"My lord what are you saying?" Galbert Glover spoke up as he looked at Cregan.

"Stannis has long abandoned The Faith of The Seven, that much is known, but do any of you know about his current religion?" Cregan's words once again made everyone in the hall confused, all but Vesemir, who only let out sly smile towards Cregan, already aware of what he was going to say.

"Stannis serves The Lord of Light, and by their laws anyone who does not 'accept' the Lord of Light is destined to burn"

The hall was now in uproar, everyone was trying to outvoice the other until one single man stood from his chair. A tall and bulky man with hair and a beard as white as Vesemir's. He was almost as tall as Tarkus which, by itself, would be intimidating enough, Tarkus was seven feet tall while this lord would be just up to his nose. It was very obvious who he was, GreatJon Umber.

"My lord, MY LORDS..." he quelled all of them with his voice. "Why should we bend to some king who would burn us all the moment the war ends!" GreatJon scoffed before continuing. "Here's what I say to that king..." Umber then spat at the ground resulting in everyone letting out a slight chuckle, Vesemir included.

After making his little speech everyone thought he was finished before Umber took the handle of his sword before unsheathing it and pointing it towards Robb. His next words made everyone widen their eyes in suprise.

"There sit's the only king I mean to bend my knee too..." Umber knelt before Robb, looking directly at him as he continued.  
"The King in The North!" Umber declared only for silence to surround the hall.

"I'll have peace on those terms!" Lord Glover stood from his chair before unsheathing his sword as he also knelt before Robb, "The King in The North!".

The next person to stand up was Theon as he looked directly at Robb. "Am I your brother, now and always?" Theon asked him. "Now and always..." Robb answered him as Theon knelt down before him and continued. "Then I will serve you, through victory and defeat!"

Now Umber, Glover and Theon knelt before him but then Robb turned to his brother Cregan who only walked in front of him, pulled out his swords and knelt down as he stabbed both of his swords Frostbite and Demonsteel into the ground. "My blades are your's brother, from this day and until my death" Cregan declared.

"THE KING IN THE NORTH!" GreatJon roared out as all the lords pulled out their swords and started chanting

"THE KING IN THE NORTH! THE KING IN THE NORTH! THE KING IN THE NORTH!" the chants echoed throughout the entirity of Riverrun as the howl of wolves could be heard from the outside. Vesemir only looked as Robb Stark stood amongst his vassals.

'Congratulations Ned, your son's a king'

Note:

Here it is people, the long overdue scene that every Stark fan gushed over when they first saw it in the show. Phew, this was a hard one to write, especially since Renly was dead by now and I had to make a good reason for Robb not to join Stannis, something else that I had to focus on was that I had to alter the dialogue a bit for GreatJon mainly because of the future plans I have for Robb. But all that trouble was worth it just for writing those five words.

The King in The North bitches.

Also, tell me what you guys think of the story and give me your suggestions on where this story should go because I am honestly running out of ideas here people.

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.


	38. Chapter 37: Two Unparalleled Warriors

**Chapter 37: Two Unparalleled Warriors**

"Footwork Triston! Watch your footwork!"

Cregan and Triston were participating in their now daily sparring sessions. Whenever he wasn't sitting in on the war council he was training his squire to be a better fighter. Despite his grip and stance, everything else was perfect. Triston's speed overshadowed his lack of strength and durability. Every single one of his strikes had masterfull precision, in a full on fight he could probably take on more than one opponent thanks to his sheer agility, that was something that Cregan respected about him despite he himself being much more proficient in distributing speed and strength.

 _ **'He has potential I'll give him that'**_  
'I'll make a fighter out of him yet...'  
 _ **'Carefull Cregan, remember, he's not as durable as you are'**_  
'He'll be fine... probably...'

And just on time, Triston swung his blade towards Cregan, using every single fiber of his strength to almost fling the swords towards his opponent. Cregan only let out a sigh of annoyance as he lightly stepped aside, parried the blade and threw it from the boys hand. Triston's fatigue was showing, he was struggling to breathe as sweat dripped across his entire face and hands, the complete opposite of Cregan who was sweating but didn't seem to show even the slightest sign being tired.

"Breath in through your nose, breath through your mouth..." he instructed his sweat covered squire, who now couldn't even stand up straight.  
"Yes... my lord..." Triston weakly replied as he wiped the sweat from his face, leaning his other hand on his knee to be able to stand straighter.

Cregan stared at Triston as he continued to catch his breath, the two were complete opposites. Cregan was tall along with a chiseled face now decorated with a slight stubble, standing at around 6 feet and 3 inches he and his sister toppled anyone else in the family. Cregan also had a lean and muscled build, his body, along with his head, arms and legs, were covered in scars, holes from arrows and spears, slashes from swords and axes, all of it was usually covered by a tunic, boots and pants, Cregan's usuall training attire.

Triston was the complete opposite of that. Where Cregan had a muscular body, Triston was rather slim yet he still did have some muscles. Cregan had long auburn hair that spread down his neck while Triston had very short darkish-brown hair. The two were opposites even in personality, although that isn't saying much with Cregan. Triston, by heart, is a very kind boy with a lot of charisma and determination, although that was usually overshadowed by his shyness and timidness.

"Alright, let's rest for a bit" Cregan finally spoke up with Triston only nodding, still breathing too heavily to be able to respond properly.

While Cregan and Triston were sparring Lyarra, Arya and Sansa were sitting to the side, watching them practice. Lyarra was finally back to her usuall cheerfull self, both the fever and the news of Eddard's death took a toll on her but after almost a month of pain, she recovered. Despite a few more problems with her legs having to adjust with handling any sort of pressure again, everything else about her was fine again, much to Sansa's relief.

The three girls watched Cregan and Triston, considering placing their bets on who would win but then quickly decided that it wouldn't be fair to bet in whatever fight Cregan was in due to them all knowing that he would easily win.

As both Cregan and Triston returned to the side of the courtyard from where they were sparring they were greeted by all the girls. Cregan grabbed a flask of water after throwing a towel for the still sweat covered Triston. "Triston, were done sparring for today, catch your breath and bring me a training dummy" he told his squire before taking a drink from the flask of water as Triston once again only nodded in response and went to get a training dummy.

Alongside with Cregan's sisters and Lyarra were their direwolves, Lady and Nymerya were beside Sansa and Arya while Cregan's wolf, Sif, was laying down beside Lyarra, still being a bit protective of her.

"Do you have to be so rough with his training?" Arya turned to Cregan, slightly worried for the exhausted squire.  
"He's fine..." Cregan said as he took another sip of water.  
"Cregan not everyone can endure ten hours of training like you" Sansa joined in on the conversation, also frowning at her brother.  
"Their right Cregan, you can't keep exhausting him" Lyarra sided with the other girls and at the same time looking at Cregan with a less angry face.  
"Why am I getting grouped up on here?" Cregan said, getting more and more annoyed.

All three of them stared towards Cregan, each one of them glaring daggers at him. After a short while Cregan finally replied, he crossed his arms and let out an annoyed sigh.

"Ugh, fine. I'll go easier on him." Cregan grumbled to them resulting in Sansa, Arya and Lyarra to stop glaring at him and give him much warmer smiles.  
"That's better brother" Sansa said rather playfully.  
"Now you two be safe, Cregan, your responsible for their safety" Sansa once again spoke up as she kissed Cregan on the cheek and started to leave.  
"Yeah, yeah, I know" Cregan once again grumbled.  
"Where are you going?" Lyarra asked as she turned to Sansa.  
"I have some things to take care of" Sansa answered before leaving her brother, sister and Lyarra.

As Sansa left the courtyard with Lady by her side Triston returned, carrying a wooden training dummy with him. Alongside Triston was Vesemir, helping him carry the dummy.

"Vesemir what are you doing here?" Cregan turned to Vesemir who was still helping Triston carry the dummy.  
"Well the lad looked like he needed help so I offered him some" Vesemir responded, finally dropping the dummy.

As Triston positioned the dummy Cregan introduced Vesemir to Arya and Lyarra. Both of them not being so trusting of the shady looking man but since Cregan seemed to trust him, they did to.

"Say, Vesemir, you up for a round of sparring?" Cregan asked Vesemir who raised his brow in interest.  
"Hm, is that a challenge I hear Stark?" Vesemir said in a rather cocky tone.  
"Maybe..." Cregan said bluntly, his tone not potraying anything but Vesemir could tell he was being rather arrogant himself.  
"Alright Stark, challenge accepted!" Vesemir let out a slight chuckle, emediately followed by a sly smile.

The two got into the middle of the courtyard, with Triston taking the dummy to the sides and sitting next to Arya. Cregan and Vesemir were now standing at around ten feet of each other as they pulled out their swords, Cregan pulling out Frostbite and Demonsteel and Vesemir pulling out his sword, FlameSinger. Cregan once again turned his gaze towards his opponents longsword, now focusing more on the blade itself. It was made out of some material that gave the blade it's ruby red color. From the blade eminated a certain warmth, the same as his shortsword Demonsteel. He never did know why Demonsteel did that, when he asked Loras even he didn't know saying 'We bought those blades from a traveling merchant from Qohor'.

"So, are there any rules for this fight?" Vesemir snapped Cregan from his thoughts.  
"Just one..." Cregan started.  
"Which is?" Vesemir raised his brow once again, now even more intriuged.

"...No holding back"

Cregan's words made Vesemir give out another sly smile. The two then got into their stances, Cregan in his dual-wielding stance and Vesemir in his own personal stance. Cregan's stance seemed to be the opposite of Vesemir's. Cregan had his blades covering his entire body, his longsword Frostbite was near his head, shielding it in the process while his shortsword Demonsteel was in held in front of him, also shielding his entire body. Vesemir's stance had his longsword FlameSinger pointed low, shielding only his legs, while his other free hand was pointed upwards. This stance leaved his torso and head completely exposed with many weak points.

'Smart, he's leaving a lot of openings to lure his opponent into attacking'

"Alright then Stark, let's have at it!"

With that, Cregan charged directly towards Vesemir at an inhuman speed, thrusting Demonsteel towards Vesemir's head the moment he got in range. Vesemir, in return, ducked and dodged the attack before sweeping his leg towards Cregan's own, trying to throw him to the ground. Cregan's reaction time was quicker than that though, before Vesemir could trip his legs he jumped over Vesemir and now was behind him. Cregan then started to unleash his barrage of strikes. He stabbed with Demonsteel, thrusting it towards Vesemir's head once again but this time also slashing Frostbite towards Vesemir's legs. The old man's reaction time seemed to be even better than Cregan's though, no matter how fast Cregan swung or thrusted with his swords, Vesemir was dodging them all with ease.

Despite him dodging all of the attacks, Cregan didn't give Vesemir any chance to parry or riposte. Two hits every second, three hits every second, slowly but surely Cregan was speeding up his attacks to the point where Vesemir couldn't dodge them anymore.

But it looked like he had a plan.

While the two warriors savagely fought each other, Triston, Arya and Lyarra were watching them in awe. Arya and Lyarra were already used to Cregan's fights being a massive spectacle, especially against more skilled opponents and Triston was also slowly getting used to being awed at his lord's fighting. Despite that the three's eyes still were fully open, marveling at the sight of what was happening in front of them. Vesemir and Cregan were going so fast that they couldn't even keep track of them. Later they became so fast it seemed they were almost making afterimages.

"Amazing..." Arya whispered to herself, her face, alongside Triston and Lyarra's, were filled to the brim with awe.

Cregan used every single drop of energy he had in him to speed his attacks up until he reached up to seven attacks every second. His swings were faster than the human eye could see them and yet, Vesemir was succesfully blocking them all while needing little effort to do so. Cregan stabbed and slashed, trying to get through Vesemir's defense but to no avail. He was starting to slow down, and Vesemir could see that. As soon as Cregan went from seven hits to only three hits every second that's when Vesemir decided to begin his assault.

Vesemir swung FlameSinger towards Cregan's left arm, the arm that held Frostbite. Even with Cregan's inhuman speed, Vesemir's swings were equally deadly and fast. As the blade got closer and closer to Cregan's arm it fell short due to him parrying Flamesinger with his shortsword Demonsteel. Cregan blocked it with the hilt of Demonsteel before pushing it away and riposting with Frostbite. Vesemir was ready to dodge the blade but as soon as it came close to his head, the blade suddenly stopped dead in it's tracks. Before Vesemir could react though he could fell something attaching to his legs and before he knew it, he was down in the dirt.

Cregan had won.

"Yield?" Cregan asked him, Frosbite pointed directly at Vesemir's face.  
"Aye, I yield" Vesemir responded in a certain dissapointed tone.

Cregan then offered a hand to Vesemir as he picked him up from the dirt. The two then returned to the side where Arya, Triston and Lyarra were still just blinking, unable to understand what had just happened. Cregan and Vesemir exchanged a final goodbye before parting ways, Vesemir going to find his companions and Cregan going back to Lyarra, Triston and Arya.

"My lord that was incredible!" Triston once again praised Cregan, his face still filled with awe.  
"No, it wasn't..." Cregan put it bluntly.  
"Oh come on Cregan, stop with the whole humble act" Arya tried to tease her brother but was emediately shot down with his stare.

"It's not an act, the only reason I won was because Vesemir let me" Cregan said, his tone holding something close to bitter dissapointment as he wiped the massive amount of sweat from his face.  
"He could have easily finished me but during the entire fight he was only toying with me" Cregan's tone became even more bitter, seemingly being dissapointed in the fight.

The four then stood in silence before a Stark guardsman came marching in. "My lord, his grace requires you in the main hall..." the guardsman spoke to Cregan who quickly answered. "Tell my brother I'll be right there" Cregan said as he took his leather jacket from a nearby chair, the guardsman only bowed in response before leaving.

 _ **'How strong do you think Vesemir really is?'**_  
'I don't know, but the one thing I am sure of is this...'

'He is one of the most skilled fighters I've seen, someone who even I can't beat'

Note:

TUN TUN TUUUUUUUUUUUUUN...

You heard right people, Vesemir is STRONGER than Cregan (And that's saying something). This was basically just a filler chapter for me to show that, yes, there exist's a human being that can beat the all powerfull mega destructor that is Cregan and that person just happens to be a 50 year old man with a grudge against the Lannisters.

The next chapter will be A LOT of war strategising, numbers and military tactics with The Starks vs The Lannisters. However, this Clash of Kings will turn out very differently.

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.


	39. Chapter 38: The Young Wolf's Plan

**Chapter 38: The Young Wolf's Plan**

On the way to the main hall Cregan walked past many Northern soldiers. "General..." he heard many of them adress him, much to Cregan's displeasure.

After being named King in The North Robb gave many of his most trusted advisors the position of general in his army, Cregan included. Alongside Cregan there was also Greatjon and Smalljon Umber, Maege and Dacey Mormont, Roose Bolton, Stevron Frey, Rickard Karstark and Galbert Glover. These were the only ones who sat in on Robb's war council and were the only people he trusted for advice. Even though Cregan was granted command over almost a third of Robb's armies he hated his new position. Just the thought of having people die under his command made Cregan grit his teeth, he had enough problems and this position only added to his stress. The fact that his nightmares were becoming a more recent occurence weren't helping the matter either.

When Cregan to the entrance of the main hall he could already hear Robb planing their next move. Cregan opened the main hall doors and entered to see Robb, Smalljon, Dacey and the Blackfish all gathered around a large table with the map of The Riverlands, The Westerlands and The Crownlands on it. Robb wore a brown leather tunic, same as Cregan whilst everyone else wore armor, Smalljon with his plate armor, Dacey with her boiled leather armor and The Blackfish with his black scale armor.

"You called for me your grace" Cregan adressed Robb.  
"Aye, I did, everyone, leave us for now" he signaled Smalljon Dacey and Blackfish to leave as they bowed and made their way out of the main hall.

Now Robb and Cregan were the only ones left in the room.

"Come Cregan, sit" Robb pointed towards a chair as Cregan only nodded and sat down.

For a moment Cregan turned his gaze towards the map. On it were small figurines that represented both Robb's armies and The Westerlands armies. The Stark direwolf figurines were currently all placed where Riverrun should be, all but one. One figurine was placed on top of Harrenhall and by it's side was a figurine of The Bolton's flayed man as well as The Frey's sigil of The Twins. From the look on Robb's face Cregan could already tell this plan with Harrenhall was going to involve him somehow.

"So what did you want to talk about your grace?" Robb's face turned sour for a moment before going back to normal.  
"Please don't call me that, I hate that title" Robb rubbed his forehead, another sign of his stress as the newly crowned King in The North.  
"Yes well I don't like being called 'General' or 'My prince' so too bad" Cregan gave out a witty retort but due to his hollow tone and neutral face it seemed much more serious than it was supposed to be.  
"What's with you, ever since you got back from The Stormlands you've been so... aggressive..." Robb raised his brow at his brother who just sighed in annoyance.  
"Trust me Robb... you do not want to know the kind of problems I am dealing with" Cregan was the one who was rubbing his forehead now.  
"Are those problems bigger than being The King of The North?" Robb said rather sarcastically.  
"Well technically you are The King of The North and The Trident" Cregan pointed out only for Robb to sigh and fall back on the chair.  
"Seven Hells you can be a pain sometimes you know that?" Robb once again sighed.

The two sat in silence for a few moments before Robb spoke up again.

"I wanted to talk to you about Harrenhall..." Robb got up from his chair and leaned on the table where the map was laid out.  
"I'm assuming you have a plan?" Cregan also got up from his chair to look at the map and layout of The Riverlands.

"Aye, I do..." Robb then started to explain his plans to Cregan.

In Harrenhall Tywin has placed a garrison of around 15,000 soldiers led by Ser Amory Lorch. Cregan will lead a force to go and retake Harrenhall. While Cregan goes and takes Harrenhall Robb will lead the remainder of the army to march on The Westerlands and take the fight to The Lannisters. Robb's army will consist of a force of 35,000 while Cregan will be leading the remainder of The Northerners and Riverlanders. During Robb's march on The Westerlands Stannis will be busy sieging King's Landing so The Lannister forces will be spread thin enough as it is. If Stannis succeds in his siege then he will take King's Landing and The Lannisters will lose The Crowlands leaving only their own region where Robb will already be attacking. If Stannis fails then it will still be a good enough distraction for Robb to enter The Westerlands.

"There's one thing I still don't understand though..." Cregan turned his head towards Robb while picking up the figurines of House Bolton and House Frey.  
"Why are The Freys and Boltons coming with me?" he asked his brother before placing the figurines back onto the map.

"That is the second part of my plan..." Robb started as he pointed towards Harrenhall.

"Cregan, I don't trust Lord Bolton nor do I trust The Freys. When we were crossing The Twins Lord Walder let our entire host through without any sort of compensation, he also gave us a force of 5,000 men along with his eldest son. When mother asked him why he was doing this he only said it was because he was 'respecting his liege lords wishes'." during Robb's explanation Cregan raised an eyebrow when he heard about Walder Frey's reasoning.

"That doesn't sound like the Walder Frey mother would always tell us about..." Cregan added his own opinion only for Robb to nod and continue explaining.

"Aye, and that's exactly why I'm suspicious. Walder Frey would never let someone pass the twins without some sort of pay, much less give someone the majority of his household guard. Roose Bolton I doupt I even need to explain to you why I don't trust him. Father was always suspicious of him and he just doesn't sit right with me." as Robb continued talking he was suddenly cut off by Cregan.

"So you want to send the two people who are most likely to stab me in the back to retake a vital stronghold held by 15,000 Lannister men..." Cregan said in whatever tone sounded as sarcastic as he could make it.

"Precisely, but that's just one part of it. Taking the stronghold is the first part, the second part is a bit more difficult. I'm not trying to send you to your death, I'm sending you with Roose Bolton and The Freys for you to make them prove their loyalty to me." Robb's plan started to make more and more sense however Cregan still had his doupts.

"And if they prove to be traitors and try to kill me or take me hostage?" Cregan once again raised an eyebrow at his older brother.  
"Then I'm sure you know what to do..." Robb's words seemed more dangerous than they were supposed to be but Cregan knew what they meant.

Cregan was, however, also suprised by his older brother, Robb seemed to think of every situation and was smart enough to not trust The Boltons and Freys. He was never like this in Winterfell. Back home he was more carefree and spirited, ever since he was crowned as King every word he spoke had to be filled to the brim with aouthoroty, every move he made was stiff and as kingly as he could make it. This wasn't the Robb Cregan once knew, he wasn't just Robb anymore, he was King Robb, ruler of The First Men, protector of The North and The Trident, The King of Winter. Even though it felt like Robb wasn't just Cregan's big brother anymore, he couldn't help but feel a bit proud of his brother for taking on this new responsibility so well.

Later that day...

The plan had been set, Robb will take his force to march on The Westerlands while Cregan will take his force to take Harrenhall. The attack will set off a week from now, that is when they will split off.

Cregan was now making his way back to his chambers. Repeating the plan in his mind. While he was reminding himself of all the steps to the plan his brothers words once again echoed through his mind, 'Then I'm sure you know what to do...' those seven words kept bouncing around his head. They weren't supposed to mean anything sadistic or wrong but their true meaning made Cregan almost feel bad for the Boltons and Freys, if they proved to be disloyal then Cregan was bent on making them regret it.

While walking back to his chambers he also thought of Vesemir, Rodrick, Lily, Tarkus and Edwyn. Robb had contracted them as mercenaries on Cregan's behest. On the road to Harrenhall they will be accompanying Cregan along with Rodrick Forrester and Dacey Mormont, something that he was glad about, at least some people Cregan knew wouldn't betray him. Vesemir and his companions have already proved their disdain for The Lannisters and proved their combat prowess in Bitterbridge, even more with Cregan's little spar with Vesemir earlier today. Rodrick and Dacey are already fiercely loyal to House Stark as are their parents. Rodrick is a fierce warrior and is respected among the Northern and Riverland lords, as well as being feared amongst The Lannisters as someone to not be take lightly. Dacey by herself is a respected name in The North as well, a woman known to be as deadly as she is beautifull.

Cregan's force consisted of about 20,000 Northerners and The Frey host of 5,000 guardsmen from The Twins led by Stevron Frey, Walder Frey's eldest son. Stevron is a good and honorable man in all regards but his blood and name made him just another Frey to be hated as a craven and a weakling in Westeros. In a way Cregan felt sorry for the old knight, he knew that not all Freys were like Stevron but not all of them were like Walder Frey. Many of Walder's children had good in their hearts but were cursed to be a part of one of the most hated families in Westeros. Even though The North, The Reach and some of The Crownlands revered Cregan as a hero and a protector, he was still The Demon, the monster that brutally slaughtered anyone in his path. Because of that Cregan could somehow relate to them, as weird as it may have sounded.

When he reached his chambers he was greeted by his direwolf Sif, who emediately jumped on his master and started licking his face. "Easy boy, easy..." he lightly pushed the wolf off of him as he got back up on his feet.  
"You really missed that much eh?" Cregan started to gently pet the wolf on the head as Sif nuzzled himself next to Cregan.

Unlike the other direwolves, Sif and Lady were much more timid and not as playfull as Summer or Nymerya. Greywind certainly reflected off of Robb, whenever he stood next to Robb Greywind held his head high and his body always ready to defend his master. Strangely, Greywind also seemed to be a good judge of character, the wolf could judge a person if he should defend Robb from them or if they could be trusted. Sif was very much like Greywind except he was lazier and loved to eat meat a lot more than the others, you could say he was foodie. While most of the time he seemed lazy and bored during hunts or in battle Sif is as fierce as a wolf can be, not only defending Cregan, but defending anyone who he couldn't defend themselves in a fight. Lady was almost identical to Sif in behavior just without the feral side. Whenever the direwolf was next to Sansa she walked with as much elegance and grace as her master did. Nymerya and Summer were the playfull ones of the litter, unlike Summer though, Nymerya didn't catch onto things as quickly as Summer does, you could say that Bran rubbed off on the wolf. But then there was the one that most worried Cregan, Shaggy Dog. Despite his silly sounding name Shaggy Dog was probably the most feral of them all and it was seeming to be rubbing off on Rickon. Although Shaggy Dog did sincerely want to protect Rickon ever since Rickon got the direwolf he himself became more aggresive towards others, and Cregan knew why...

All of these things ran through Cregan's mind as he unbuttoned his leather jacket and sat on the edge of the bed. While thinking of Rickon and Shaggy Dog Cregan turned to Sif who was now laying down beside him on the bed.

"You wouldn't want to steal my conciousness..." Cregan started to speak to Sif who only looked at his master with the only good eye he had left and just blinked at him repeatedly.  
"...would you Sif?" Cregan continued to speak to his wolf only for Sif to just continue blinking towards him.  
"You're not making your case here you know that?" Sif now just nuzzled closer to Cregan and laid his head down on the bed.

'Look at me, I'm talking to my damn wolf... I must be going insane...'  
 _ **'Well you do talk to a voice inside your head, I think we've passed the point of insanity here...'**_  
'Can you please just once leave me alone to wallow in my thoughts?'  
 _ **'If I left you alone you would just think about Margaery again, and we both know what happens when you think about Margaery'**_  
'You have no proof of anything...'  
'Cregan I live in your head, trust me, I do'

'...'

 _ **'Cregan?'**_  
'Point taken...'

As he continued to converse with the voice inside his head Cregan took another look to his direwolf who was now fast asleep next to him. He continued to stare at the big ball of silver-grey fur next to him, the two really were like the same person even up to their scars, the only difference was Cregan's eye was still working where Sif lost his. Cregan remembered their conversation in his dream, _**'...I am supposed to protect you no matter the cost yet all I can do in these damn dreams is watch you suffer time and time again'**_ , Sif's words repeated themselves in Cregan's mind.

He remembered Arya almost a year ago, when she woke him up, her face filled to the brim with terror of what she saw. Cregan remembered the promise he made her, that it was just simple nightmares, lies, all lies. Every time he died in his dreams Cregan could feel a piece of him drifting away. They weren't always this brutal, at first they were really nothing but bad dreams, over the years however, they started being more prominent, more vivid, more horrifying.

As he continued to get lost in his thoughts Cregan felt a sudden pain in his head, his nose was bleeding again.

When his fingers touched the blood he could see the skin of his hand going pale, now the blood on his fingers was slowly dripping down his arm. He could feel the tears starting to well up in his eyes, his mask started to crack as a tear slowly streamed down his left cheek.

'I'm sorry father... I'm sorry... I can't keep this up... not for much longer...'

Note:

Alright I know I'm like a day late but HAPPY EASTER YAAAAAY! I wanted this chapter to be an Easter release but due to technical difficulties (me being lazzy) I didn't make the deadline.

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.


	40. Chapter 39: Preparations

**Chapter 39: Preparations**

The wind blew carrying a cold yet soft breeze with it. The sun was almost entirely blocked by the clouds, the slight cracks of sunlight reflected from the water making it shine brightly. The waves and tides slowly traveled south down the river. The rustling of trees, leaves and grass was heard as the breeze continued to travel throughout the river as well as the shore. Since the sun was almost blocked out nothing shined through, everything seemed as bleak as it could be.

It was the perfect weather for a funeral.

Just more than a day ago did Hoster Tully, Robb, Cregan, Sansa and Arya's grandfather as well as their mother Catelyn's father, die. He had been suffering from some sickness for more than a few months now. During his last days Hoster became a drooling, rambling mess that couldn't even speak coherent sentences. Cregan didn't remember much of his grandfather, however, the few memories he did have were sweet ones, they were moments he was fond of reminising. He remembered how their mother would bring him and Sansa to Riverrun. Cregan and Sansa were only three years old when they first visited Riverrun, well, it was the only time he could remember. Their grandfather would always place both Cregan and Sansa on his lap and gently bounce them on each one of his knees. That was still when Cregan could smile like any other child, when he didn't have to worry that if he fell asleep he wouldn't wake up the next day, when he still wasn't plagued by his nightmares.

Everyone at the funeral had either stern faces, trying to mask their grief, or were quietly sobbing. Robb was one of the people who put on an stern face while Cregan didn't even have to force himself to put up that facade, no matter what Cregan always had his neutral and stoic expression, even at his grandfathers funeral. While Robb and Cregan potrayed no grief Sansa and Arya were quietly crying in grief. Out of all of Cregan's siblings Sansa and Arya were the closest to their grandfather, so it was understandable that they were the one who were most affected by his passing. Despite Catelyn and Edmure just losing their father, they didn't seem to be as affected as everyone else. In their fathers final moments Catelyn and Edmure managed to spend it with him, despite everything that had been going on.

Hoster was placed onto a small wooden boat, filled with straw and tinder. As his cold body was laid down onto the boat Hoster was wrapped in a cloak with the banner of House Tully on it. On the cloak was Hoster's sword, the blade itself had become rusty and dull, but it was still made in his honor, and it will follow him into the afterlife. As Hoster's brother Brynden pulled the boat away from the shore and the boat started to travel down the river Edmure walked forwad, bow in hand, and pulled an arrow from his quiver, setting it on fire as he doused it in the nearby brazier. Edmure attached the arrow to the string of the bow, aimed it high, and pulled the string back. He paused for a moment, closing one of his eyes before releasing the string. The arrow flew through the air as swiftly as possible only to fall ljust a bit short off the boat, missing the mark. Edmure frowned a bit before doing the same proccess again. He doused the tip of the arrow in the brazier, catching it on fire, he aimed it high, closed one of his eyes before releasing the string.

The arrow missed it's mark again.

While Edmure wanted to try again his uncle Brynden sighed in annoyance. Brynden went to do the deed himself but was stopped by Cregan, who shot him a look to signal him to stop.

"Uncle..." Cregan walked up to Edmure and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a look saying for Edmure to stop trying to hit the boat.

Edmure reluctantly gave the bow to his nephew before returning to his uncle and sister. As Edmure went back to the crowd Cregan pulled out and arrow, attached it to the string and doased it in the brazier. Before he pulled the string however Cregan shot a look to the Tully flag the flickered throughout the air. The flag was pointing South-West. Just like his uncle, Cregan aimed his bow and high up into the air but unlike Edmure he positioned his arrow a bit right that were the boat was. Cregan shot the arrow emediately, not even bothering to aim it.

He hit his mark. When the arrow connected a small fire could be seen starting to spread across the entire boat.

Cregan then returned back to his place in the crowd, between both his sisters Sansa and Arya. He took a look towards his mother and uncle for a second, Catelyn gave her son a warm smile while Edmure didn't even look away at the sight of his father's boat erupting into flames. A single tear came down his uncles face. Although in any other situation Brynden would mock his nephew for crying, this was not a normal situation though, it was understandable.

Cregan suddenly felt a slight tug on his cloak.

It was his younger sister Arya, looking up on her older brother with teary eyes. "I thought uncle Edmure was a great shot, why did he miss?" she whispered to her brother. Arya's usual snarky tone was now replaced by small whimpers and teary cheeks.

"He just lost his father Arya... besides... there's no shame in missing your mark..." Cregan defended his uncle but really he was just saying what everyone thought. Arya then took a quick glance to Sansa who only nodded, aggreing with what her twin said. Cregan and his other siblings knew how he felt, they knew the pain of losing a member of the family, especially the pain of losing their father.

 **Two days later...**

Everything in Riverrun had finally died down and people stopped grieving. The time for war had returned and only a day remained before Cregan and Robb would separate. Robb to march on The Westerlands and Cregan to march on Harrenhall. Cregan sat in his temporary office, his grandfather's old office, reading reports on the frontlines.

The Westerlands are marching full force onto The Riverlands. With Edmure's recent leave for the funeral Lord Mallister had taken up the defense of the frontlines until Robb managed to get to the western front. Of the 5,000 men Robb had sent as well as Mallister household guard of 2,300 men, 1,283 of those men had already been killed, injured or sick.

 _947 killed, 229 injured, 107 sick from illnesess_

Cregan sighed as he continued to read through the casualties report. This is one of the many reasons no one wanted to go to war against The Lannisters. Not only did their vast amounts of gold give them an advantage in politics, it also meant that it didn't matter how many men Tywin lost. Even if every one of Robb's soldiers killed a hundred Lannister men a thousand more would appear. Whatever the casualties Tywin could just hire another mercenary group to replace them in less than a day.

'Ollena... I hope that letter reaches you in time...' Cregan reminded himself of the letter he gave Willas before he infiltrated Bitterbridge. If it was anyone else Cregan would have just sent a raven or delivered it himself but he could trust Loras. He trusted the Tyrells as much as he did his own family.

"My lord, Ser Stevron is here to see you..." his squire Triston snapped him from his thoughts as he entered the room.  
"Tell him to come in." Cregan didn't break his gaze from the reports as Triston only nodded in response and in his place came Stevron Frey.

"M'lord..." Stevron adressed Cregan.  
"Ser Stevron... sit..." Cregan finally put the reports down on the table and acknowledged the knight's presence.

As Stevron took a seat on the other side of the table Cregan poured a glass of wine for the knight and handed it to him, Stevron only nodded in gratitude and grabbed the glass before taking a sip of it. "As you might know my brother intends to send me to take Harrenhall with my own northern host, along with the garrison from the twins that your father handed out to us." Cregan spoke in his usual emotionless tone, his face neutral and his eyes completely fixed on the old knight.

"My men are at your command m'lord, as am I" Stevron pointed out only for Cregan to nod and continue.

"Of that I am sure. However, that is not the reason I called for you." Cregan's words made Stevron slightly raise his brow before he continued. "If we are succesfull in our capture of Harrenhall, Gods be good, I intend to give it to your family after this war is over." Stevron now became even more intriuged, altough a large part of that intrigue was overshadowed by confusion.

"M'lord that is-... it is quite a generous offer but-... wouldn't your brother, the king, be the one to decide that..." Stevron began to stutter as soon as he spoke, still too confused about what Cregan was saying.  
"I have already spoken to my brother, he supports my plan." Cregan said in a much calmer voice although it was quite hard to hear with it being just above a whisper.  
"M'lord your offer is quite generous, but if I may ask, why would you do this?" Stevron lowered his brow and cleared his throat, his voice being much more constant and clear.

"Ser Stevron know that this is not just an offer of kindness. When my brother and the northern host were crossing into The Riverlands your father could have easily disobeyed Lord Hoster and made as many demands as he wanted for them to cross The Twins. But he didn't. He let them pass without any sort of payment and along with that he also granted us his household guard." Stevron listened with intent as Cregan continued his reasoning. "By doing that your father had probably saved thousands of Riverlanders as well as countless villages and innocent lives from death by The Lannisters." For a moment, Cregan's face seemed to become much more softer as his voice started to give out emotion.

"And for that... I am gratefull" Cregan finally finished his little speech only for Stevron to look at him in both confusion and a slight bit of respect.

"However, I will fullfill this offer on one condition." Cregan pointed out.  
"Which is?" Stevron once again raised his brow and became even more interested.

"If Harrenhall is to be given to The Freys your father shall give it to you" Cregan's words made Stevron's eyes almost pop out at the suggestion.  
"But... but why would you do such a thing?" Stevron forgave all formalities as he was near to jumping out of his chair.  
"Tell me Ser Stevron, you are already a grandfather are you not?" Cregan's tone was the opposite to Stevron's.  
"Y- yes, m'lord, I am." Stevron began to stutter before going back to his clearer voice.

"You are Lord Walder's eldest and yet he has lived for almost 90 years now. The man has almost as much children as he does years of his life. The moment Lord Walder dies the line of succesion is forgotten and everyone will be fighting for The Twins. There will be death, and I do not wish to see you become one of the casualties. You and your family will rule Harrenhall. Let the others fight over Lord Walder's place."

Stevron looked at Cregan in sheer confusion now. They continued to sit in silence for a few more seconds until Stevron got up from his chair and finally spoke up.

"Very well m'lord, I will send a raven to my father at once." Stevron then began to leave but was stopped by Cregan.  
"No need, I already have the letter here..." Cregan pulled out a letter from under the table.  
"...this letter has both mine and my brothers signature on it." he then gave it to Stevron who only nodded and finally left.

As soon as Stevron left the office Vesemir entered. Unlike Stevron though Vesemir was stumbling and hiccuping.

"So..." Vesemir tried speaking before being cut off by his burp. "You decided to give Harrenhall to The Freys?" he asked Cregan.  
"Are you drunk?" Cregan tilted his head a bit and asked Vesemir.  
"I may have had a drink..." Vesemir once again burped and blinked a few times to regain his balance, "... or twenty".

Cregan only sighed before getting out of his chair and pointing to the other one opposite of his. "Sit down you drunk old fool" he told him.  
"Hey, listen Stark... I may be drunk..." Vesemir hiccuped, "...I may be old...", this time he snorted, "...but I am no fool Stark".  
"You're drunk, you're old and you're a fool, now sit down" Cregan basically pushed Vesemir down onto the chair with a well placed hand on his shoulder.

Note:

Alright I don't usualy do this but I feel this has to be said.

When I first started to write this I never even dreamed of this story doing this well and I know that a lot of people say these kinds of things and I'm fucking unoriginal for joining the club but I mean it.

The story now has over 70 thousand views, 181 follows and 174 favorites. Thank you to all these people who follow and favorite my story, you guys keep me motivated, especially those who keep reviewing my chapters. Every time I see the view, favorite or follow number go up it's gives me more motivation to keep writting this knowing that people like my story.

Sorry for that little sob story, I promise I won't do it again, but once again thank you for the support and I will see you all next time.


	41. Chapter 40: Loyalties

**Chapter 40: Loyalties**

The march was tiring to say the least. Cregan and his host had to travel across a war-torn land, they saw trees with all the branches holding up hung corpses, villages burned down to the ground, fields covered in dry blood and burnt soil. The sights by themselves were enough to make some vomit from disgust. Dacey by herself threw up a total of thirteen times by Cregan's count, the smell of rotting flesh didn't help lessen that number either.

Cregan's host consisted of 25,000 men altogether. 8,000 were northerners that consisted of the household guard of The Forrester, Mormont and Stark men, the remaining northerners were Bolton men, having up to 12,000 heavy infantry and archers. The remaining men were Frey guards from The Twins lead by Ser Stevron. Cregan, of course, was leading the force from the front, by his side were Rodrik and Dacey along with Vesemir, Rodrick, Tarkus, Lily and Edwyn. Cregan's companions weren't sent to just act as bodyguards though.

Rodrik and Dacey are natural leaders as well as being fierce warriors. Lily is an excelent tracker and scout, her marksmanship is superb as well, never missing her mark and being as swift as wind she also served as an interceptor, shooting down any ravens carrying enemy information. Edwyn has experience in medicine so he served as a temporary maester. Vesemir, Rodrick and Tarkus however, served to disable any tention in the army. Not so suprisingly, The Boltons and Freys didn't get on well with the rest of the northerners so Vesemir, Rodrick and Tarkus were usually the ones to disolve any dispute.

The journey to Harrenhall was the hard part though, when they finally arrived everyone expected a giant garrison of Lannister men. Except all they found was a stronghold completely divoid of any sort of life, that didn't mean it was empty though. As the northern host entered Harrenhall they saw thousands of lifeless bodies spread across the entire first courtyard. Many were just unlucky Riverlanders who were taken captive under the assumption of 'Treason against The King' but Cregan could recognise some bodies. Manderlys, Cerwyns, Tullys, Karstarks, anyone who was from The North or The Riverlands then a body of a soldier could probably be found. Besides the bodies, which filled most of the courtyards and prison cells, The Lannisters also left torture tools, weapons and other assorted things that they couldn't carry.

Everyone in The Northern army surely wanted to be anywhere but here, sadly, they weren't given that honor. Robb had commanded Cregan to stay and defend Harrenhall until they receive further orders, and so Cregan obeyed, much to everyone's displeasure.

They had been staying in Harrenhall for almost two weeks now. In that time Cregan had ordered all the bodies to be given their last honors before burning all the bodies to stop any sort of diseases to spread. While rumaging through the corpses they found one survivor, an old man named Qyburn. When everyone first found him Qyburn was beaten, bruised and broken but thanks to Edwyn's medicinal knowledge they managed to nurse him back to health

Today was going to be just another dreadfull day in this accursed fortress, everyone had their own little courtyard where they could be by themselves. The Stark, Forrester and Mormont men sat in their own courtyard, occasionaly patrolling around the battlements to see if any enemies were planning to attack them. The Boltons scavenged throughout Harrenhall, taking anything of value, be it from the storages, barracks or from corpses. The Freys would all just gather around the same courtyard and drink away both the day and the night.

 **Early morning, Frey courtyard, southeast part of Harrenhall...**

Stevron sat with his own men, joining in on the drinking and gambling before he heard an almost silent voice behind him.

"Ser Stevron..." The Frey lord turned his head to see none other than General Cregan Stark with his companions by his side.  
"Walk with me for a moment will you?" Cregan slightly cocked his head as Stevron got up from the ground and followed him.

As Stevron cought up with Cregan and his companions they continued to walk through the still blood-covered walkways and courtyards of Harrenhall in complete silence. Cregan had his usuall neutral face and disinterested gaze. Despite Stevron being almost fifty years older than the boy Cregan towered over the knight. Stevron was only 5'7 while Cregan was 6'3, his chiseled face now was decorated by a slight beard, coupled with his stern face and cold stare these things made Cregan look years older than he actually was.

"M'lord, what did you want to talk about?" Stevron finally spoke up, ending the silence in the group.  
"Patience Ser Stevron, you will see in due time..." Cregan's words made Stevron a bit nervous.

'Could he have found out?' Stevron thought to himself as they continued to pace throughout the fortress. Who? How? When? Where? So many questions flooded Stevron's mind. With every minute they continued to walk Stevron became more nervous, the fact that the general had two battle-ready knights accompanying him didn't help ease his tention either. One was a giant clad in black plate armor, wielding a giant cleaver-like greatsword. The other was a more normal sized man, also clad in armor with a longsword strapped to his side.

The four continued to walk for a few more moments before coming to a stone building that was missing it's roof, the doors to the building were closed and when Cregan went to open them he stopped for a second and turned to Stevron.

"Ser Stevron, I hope you are not squeamish, what you are about to see... it will probably disturb you..." Cregan spoke to him only for Stevron to grunt slightly.  
"Whatever it is M'lord I doupt it is worse than the attrocities we've already witnessed" Stevron said rather confidently.

"I doupt that..." Stevron heard Cregan murmur to himself before opening the doors...

What Stevron saw... made him almost scream in horror...

Roose Bolton laid dead, mutilated beyond belief. The leech lord was bound to a wooden pole, not that there was much to bound him to. Bolton was nothing but a torso and head, if even that, his arms and legs seemed to have been forcibly ripped off. His torso was just a hollow shell, all the blood in his veins had been emptied and both his organs and entrails were missing. The torso seemed to have been cut with surgical precision, leaving only skin and bone where there used to be a person. On Roose's face was a frozen face of pain, anguish, terror, sorrow, many things no one has seen the leech lord express. His eyes had been ripped out, semingly by some heated knife due to the blood and burn marks on the corners of the eye sockets. In place of his eyes were burning coals, slowly melting away at his skull and flesh as smoke emited from where his eyes should be. The wooden pole Roose Bolton had been tied to was made into a makeshift pyre. Next to his corpse were ten Bolton soldiers, one of them holding a still burning torch.

Stevron was so disgusted by this he had to take a few steps back just to escape the stench of his rotten flesh. As he tried to take a few more steps back Stevron could feel a hand on his shoulder, stopping him dead in his tracks and crushing his shoulder in the proccess.

"M-... M-... M'lord... what is this?..." Stevron was on the verge of vomiting, barely being able to contain himself.  
"..." Cregan didn't answer, he only walked to the Bolton man who was holding the torch and set the leech lords corpse ablaze.  
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" Stevron finally regained his composure, his horror now turned into rage and disgust.

"..." Cregan once again stood silent, staring at the now burning corpse of Roose Bolton before turning around and looking Stevron dead in the eyes. "Roose Bolton, last of his name and his line, lord of The Dreadfort, commonly know as 'The Leech Lord' by his subordinates..." Cregan sounded more like a report than an actual human being. Then he started slowly approaching Stevron, "...Died at the age of 53, betrayed by his own men at the orders Cregan Stark, The Prince of Winterfell...". With every step closer Cregan took to him, Stevron could feel his bones shaking from the sight of the emotionless monster approaching him.

"Roose Bolton didn't know where his allegiances lied, just like your father doesn't... You are not your father... are you Lord Stevron..." Cregan's tone was menacing and so intimidating that it made Stevron almost wet himself. The Demon finally stopped paccing towards him, stopping directly in front of Stevron and looking him with his cold, dead, eyes.

"N-n-n-n-... NO! I'm not... MERCY MY LORD, PLEASE!" Stevron fell to his knees, pleading for his life as he planted his face down on the ground and continued to beg.

"Know where you allegiances lie Lord Stevron, if your father does not agree with that... well... Sif still is quite hungry..." with that Stevron could hear a low growl as he saw massive wolf paws slowly walking around him. When he raised his head Stevron saw Cregan's direwolf Sif, the wolf's one good eye fixed directly onto Stevron as dry blood decorated his snout.

"I will forgive your family this time Lord Stevron, however, if this happens again then I will not be as mercifull and your punishment shall be twice as painfull... and believe me... The Lannisters will not save you from me..." Cregan then left with Sif, The giant clad in black plate armor and the other knight. Leaving Stevron in shock and horror of what he just saw.

Stevron blinked profusely, but every time he did, he saw his face...

He saw the beaten, scarred face of Cregan Stark. His fiery red hair, his cold, dead eyes, his blank, low, menacing, horryfying voice. Nothing about him seemed normal. When Stevron looked into Cregan's eyes he saw nothing, no pain, no regret, no emotion, only death. The stories really were true, Stevron only believed them to be made up and overexagarated tales made by a bitter man. How can a simple boy be a Demon? That is what Stevron always told himself, but now he knew better. Stevron placed a hand on his face, trying to wipe the massive amounts of sweat as his heart beated profusely.

That was not a boy... that was a monster...

'That... that man... NO... that THING... that thing is not human... it's not human...'

 **Robb's POV**

When Robb got to the western defence line of The Riverlands the soldiers hailed him almost as if he was a savior, but that wasn't very far fetched though. With his army he also brought, supplies, medicine, clothing, armor, weapons, all these things Lord Mallister and his men needed desperately.

The encampment that the northerners and the riverlanders set up was a makeshift entrenchment with large tents that could house around 10 men with every tent along with wooden spears that entrenchent the entire camp from cavalry. Robb's army was greeted with hails and cheers from the remaining soldiers that were still able to fight. Even more so when they started to give out food and medicine to the starving, wounded and sick men.

"Your grace, I cannot even begin to express my gratitude..." Lord Mallister greeted his king as he took a low bow and started to speak, only to be stopped by Robb.  
"There is no need for that my lord Mallister, I wasn't just about to let the men who were ready to die defending their homes starve to death" Robb said in his usuall kingly voice.  
"Very well then your grace, but even so... thank you." Lord Mallister once again expressed his gratitude before leading Robb with Theon by his side to the frontline.

As Robb, Theon and Lord Mallister made it to the front of the camp Robb saw the consequences of a long war. In front of them lied a bare open field, whether it was a meadow, a forest, a grain field, it did not matter, whatever it was before was now replaced by a scorched and corpse-filled land that spun for miles. "Seven fucking hells..." Robb murmured to himself as he tightened the grip on the hilt of his shortsword strapped to his side, staring far into the seemingly endless war-torn land. His father always told him that war was hell, and he believed that, but Robb could bever imagine it going this far.

Tens upon thousands of corpses covered the battlefield. In the corner of his eyes Robb saw the Stark banner flickering through the air as it was pushed by the breeze. Holding the banner was a soldier wearing Stark battle armour, even in death, the man was still serving House Stark, in a way. Robb could almost recognise the man though, at another look Robb noticed something. 'Erik...' Robb thought to himself, finally realising who it was. Erik was a simple farmer before he joined The Winterfell guard, Robb recalled the boy being so excited at first. He was more than willing to devote his life to the house he was proud to serve. 'Rest easy Erik, we will avenge you, and your comrades' Robb thought to himself before turning to Lord Mallister.

"Lord Mallister, get some rest, I believe you and your men have more than deserved it." Robb gave the lord a warm yet barely noticable smile.  
"Yes your grace, and once again, thank you..." Lord Mallister then took a deep bow before leaving Robb and Theon alone.

As Robb and Theon continued to stare at the field in front of them the clanging armored footsteps of tens of thousand of soldiers could be heard going throughout the camp.

"You saw him too didn't you?" Theon spoke up as he turned his head to Robb.  
"Aye, Erik was a good man." Robb's face went dark, clearly showing his disdain at the sight in front of them.  
"We'll avenge them. We'll avenge your father, we'll avenge them all." Robb believed in Theon's words giving him a small smile.

"Oh, and there's one other thing..." Theon pulled out a letter from his satchel and handed it to Robb. "A raven arrived just an hour or two ago".  
"Who's it from?" Robb asked Theon as he observed the wax seal on the letter, it was the seal of House Stark.  
"No idea, thought it was important though" Theon only shrugged and left Robb alone to read the mysterious letter.

Robb opened the letter by breaking off the seal and started reading it's contents...

 _Robb,_

 _We have successfully occupied Harrenhall, It wasn't the way we thought it would go though,_  
 _When we got there the fortress had already been empty, Tywin had ordered his men to retreat after hearing of our plans,_

As he read the last line Robb's eyes widened for a moment. 'How could they have known about our plan?' he thought to himself before continuing to read the letter.

 _We are currently in Harrenhall, staying until you give us any further orders,_  
 _In terms of how Harrenhall was evacuated I have already solved that mystery,_  
 _You were right about Roose Bolton, he was feeding inteligence to The Lannisters this whole time,_  
 _He had been sending reports of our numbers, supplies as well as all our movements and plans,_

 _Do not worry though, I have taken care of the matter._

 _Sincerely,_  
 _General Cregan Stark_

Note:

Alright, I wanna address something. In these 41 chapters we have witnessed the many sides of Cregan. We have already seen him be emotionless, we have seen him be a killing machine, we have seen him be a general baddass as well as him being weak and fragile. But we have seen one side of him though, the side I wanted to include in this story for so long. Put your mind to it and you would realise...

...Cregan can be fucking terrifying when he wants to be...

That is why that first part was in the Stevron Frey's POV.


	42. Chapter 41: Loyalties 2

**Chapter 41: Loyalties 2**

 **Flashback**

King Robb's as well as General Cregan's army were preparing to march out. The two brothers exchanged goodbyes with both each other as well as their mother and other siblings before going to saddle their horses. While the Starks and other lords were saddling their mounts inside Riverrun Triston could hear thousands of footsteps and hooves marching from the outside. As his lord was busy saddling his horse Triston could notice Cregan having trouble with one of the knots so he quickly went to assist his lord.

"Here my lord, allow me..." Triston interrupted Cregan's saddling as he moved to the side and let his squire untie the knot and place the saddle once again.  
"So, I hear we are to march on Harrenhall" Triston tried to make small talk only to be met by his lord's cold stare.  
"No, 'we' are not marching anywhere, you are going to stay here Triston." Triston's eyes widened a moment from suprise as Cregan mounted his horse.  
"But-" Triston tried to reason with his lord but was swiftly stopped by Cregan's stare.  
"No but's Triston, you stay here, that's final" Cregan put it bluntly.  
"My lord I don't think you know what squires are supposed to do..." Triston sighed as he once again tried to reason with Cregan.  
"Squires are supposed to obey their lord's orders, no matter what." Cregan narrowed his eyes towards Triston.  
"Well yes, but-" Triston persisted in his reasonings.  
"Then I am 'ordering' you to stay in Riverrun" Cregan then stopped any more arguments from his squire.

When Triston once again tried to plead his case Cregan already started to ride out of Riverrun, leaving his squire in the dust. As Triston was engulfed by the dust his eyes started to water and he started to cough from the sheer density of the dust. When he could finally see again Triston saw Cregan joining his army outside The Riverrun gates. Although Triston was Cregan's squire and squires were supposed to be by their lords at all times Triston felt a slight bit of relief not going to Harrenhall. He had heard all the stories of Harren the Black, who was burned alive inside his own fortress by Balerion The Black Dread's flames along with all the servants and Harren's own family. Any other family from then on who had Harrenhall would met their untimely end sooner or later. The curse of Harrenhall had become more than well known however, The Lannisters recent uses for the massive fortress had made it even more infamous. Thousands upon thousands of people, viciously tortured and killed. The sheer thought of it made Triston shiver to the bone.

Despite that however, Triston still couldn't bear the fact to see his lord go off into that accursed fortress. The strangest thing though is Triston really didn't know why he was worried about Cregan. He had expereinced his lords combat prowess first hand many times and yet, he had feeling about the whole march. It could have been Triston's own sense of duty, or it could have been the fact that he didn't want to lose another one of his masters knowing that he could have helped them. Whatever his reasons may have been, it was to late now, there was no point in thinking about it anymore, Cregan had already left.

Triston continued to watch both King Robb and General Cregan give each other one last handshake the two armies separated, one going to retake Harrenhall, the other going to finally take the fight to The Lannisters.

"Wish you could just trust me for once..." Triston let out one last sigh as he murmured to nobody but himself. He continued to stare at the Riverrun gates before deciding it was best to stop standing around incompentently and go do something. Triston decided to make his way to the stables, thinking that brushing some horses down would keep him busy.

As made his way to the stables Triston suddenly felt something gently scratching at his legs. He stopped walking and looked down to see a bigger than average wolf, looking directly at Triston with a stick in it's mouth. "Your... Nymeria right?" Triston asked the wolf as he knelt down. The wolf let go of the stick in it's mouth, dropping it on the ground and barking in response. "I'll take that as a yes" Triston chuckled a bit before he patted the wolf on the head as Nymeria started to wave her tail around and bark happily.

During the few months Triston had spent in Riverrun he had grown a bit closer to both The Starks and their direwolves. Cregan, Sansa and Arya seemed to be fond of Triston, although that wasn't as believable with Cregan than it was with The Stark girls. Sif and Nymeria also gained a liking to him. Sif and Triston, as strange as it may have sounded, seemed to have formed a sort of friendly rivarly. Nymeria kept by her masters side, only interacting with others along with Arya, that's why it was weird to see the wolf all alone. Lady and Greywind didn't really pay much attention to Triston. From what he had heard from Lyarra the fact that Greywind, the king's wolf, didn't pay attention to him meant that he trusted Triston. Lady payed more mind to the squire than Greywind, but it wasn't really that much. The wolf really only looked at the boy, occasionaly letting Triston pet her head, maybe as a show of gratitude for saving them from King's Landing.

A bark suddenly snapped Triston from his thoughts. Triston blinked for a few times as he saw Nymeria still standing in front of him, slightly nudging the stick on the floor towards him with her nose. He picked up the stick and looked again to Nymeria. "You want me to throw it?" he asked the wolf who once again, barked in response. Triston considered that as a yes and, with all his force, threw the stick as far as he could.

Nymeria then burst into a run, chasing after the still flying stick. Triston let out a small smile as he watched the merry wolf continue to playfully chase after the stick. "At least I won't go unnoticed here..." Triston once again let out a slight chuckle at the sight of Nymeria running back to him, the stick now in her mouth.

 **End of Flashback...**

 **Riverrun training courtyard, early afternoon...**

Triston and Arya were in the middle of a training session. The two both paced around each other, seven or eight feet apart from one another. Arya's face was covered in sweat whereas Triston's, although still sweaty, was less moist. All those intense sparrings between him and Cregan seemed to have made him more resiliant and durable. Arya continued to pace around Triston as he did the same, Arya was in her water-dancing stance that her teacher Syrio Forrel taught her while Triston only held his blade in front of him with both hands.

The two had been doing their training together ever since Robb, Cregan, and the rest of the army left. Unlike his sparring sessions with Cregan however, Arya didn't tire him to the point of passing out. During that time they have grown closer, however it was a slow process. Triston never really talked to girls nor did he have many, if any, friends that were girls, so this was a new experience for him. Although he did feel a bit awkward around her, Arya was good company, despite her coming from a noble family she always treated Triston equally. This became even more suprising when he older brother Robb became a king and, in turn, she and her other siblings became princes and princesses.

Before Triston could continue his thoughts Arya swung her sword towards him. Triston, a bit suprised, clumsily sidestepped out of the swords reach.

"Remember what Cregan told you Triston, watch your footwork!" Arya instructed him, for a moment Triston thought he was sparring again with Cregan but the more feminine voice erased that thought emediately.

Triston then straightened his posture and took a firmer grip of his sword, ready for action. He swung towards Arya, aiming his sword high at first before swinging it down on the apprentice water dancer. Despite Triston being taught how to fight with a sword since he could walk, and Arya only training with Syrio for just a few months, the two were somewhere close to the same skill level. That fact made Triston not be suprised when Arya quickly took a couple of steps back, avoiding the attack.

The two were once again at the same distance they were before.

 _'Flailing at your enemy will get you nowhere. Control the weight of your sword as well as your swings.'_ Triston remembered Cregan's teachings during one of their sparring sessions.

Following Cregan's instructions Triston once again swung at Arya, this time with much faster and more precise swings. Despite that Arya was still doing her best to defend herself against Triston's attacks, although she was showing signs of struggling. Triston swung randomly in a new direction every time, right, down, left, up, every time he would attack a new combination was formed, mixing the directions or attacking twice in the same direction to throw Arya off. Whilst Triston was doing his best to break through her defense, Arya was doing everything she could to block and dodge Triston's attacks. She lifted, lowered and pushed her sword to the direction where Triston was attacking, occasionaly taking a step back to dodge Triston's swings whenever he would attack in the same direction twice.

Arya continued to block and dodge Triston's attack, something she had gotten very good at due to her teacher's lessons. While Arya was continuing to block at the same pace Triston was going slower, his fatigue was showing. Triston did his best to keep up his attacks but, even with Cregan's endurance training, he was getting noticably slower.

In a desperate attempt to end the fight, Triston took one last swing towards Arya. He expected Arya to block the attack but instead she ducked, dodging the attack before swinging low and sweeping Triston of his feet. Triston fell face first onto the ground, grunting in pain the moment he hit impact.

"Agh... where did you learn that?" Triston once again grunted in pain before he stopped laying down and started sitting on the ground.  
"Little trick Cregan taught me" Arya said playfully as she smirked at Triston before offering him a hand of the cold ground.  
"Great, another Stark that can easily beat me to the dirt" Triston said as he started to wipe the dirt of his clothes.  
"Oh, is that so, don't tell me I hurt you" Arya once again smirked cockily at Triston, giggling from the squires comment.  
"Are you kidding? Between getting beat up by your brother or getting beat up by you I would much rather choose you, trust me" Triston pointed out after he stopped wipping the dirt of his clothes.

The two smiled and laughed before going to the sides where a table with a tray holding water and food was placed. Arya took the flask of water while Triston took an apple from the tray and bit down on it. Both Arya and Triston were out of breath and clearly tired. The massive amounts of sweat and their heavy breathing didn't help hide that fact either. Triston took another bite on the apple before turning his head to Arya.

"Arya, can I ask you something?" Triston spoke up as Arya turned to him as well.  
"What is it?" she asked while taking a towel and wiping the sweat of her forehead.  
"Does Cregan trust me?" Triston's question made Arya sharply turn around.  
"What do you mean by 'trust's you'," Arya raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"Well... It's just that... well... he never seems to fully trust me, a week ago he 'ordered' me to stay here in Riverrun, rather than letting me come with him to Harrenhall" while Triston was busy explaining Arya was occupying herself with drinking from the flask of water but when Triston finished Arya almost spat the water out from her mouth when she heard Triston's explanation.

"Wait, your serious? Oh Gods, your serious aren't you?" Arya said as she wipped the bit of water from her lips.  
"What's so funny?" Triston said while frowning, slightly annoyed by Arya's reaction.  
"Triston, Cregan trusts you... in his own way" Arya patted Triston on his shoulder a bit.  
"You know I'd be inclined to believe you, but many things say otherwise." Triston once again frowned towards Arya.

"Listen, Triston, Cregan cares about all of us, at times he can be sort of... well alright he can be a complete shit, but deep down he cares about me, Sansa, Lyarra, you... everybody." Arya defended her brother, placing a hand on Triston's shoulder while Triston listened in silence.

"You say he doesn't trust you but from what I heard he trusted you with both Sansa's and Lyarra's safety. Because of you their safe, and I can't even begin to thank you for that." Arya continued to explain, her voice becoming a bit softer as she looked directly at Triston. The two locked eyes for a moment before Triston turned his head downards, staring down at his feet.

"I guess your right" Triston admitted defeat, his cheeks turned slightly red from Arya's hand on his shoulder.  
"I usually am" Arya said rather cockily before strongly patting Triston on the back.

"Now come on, let's go for another round"

The two then picked up their swords and started making their way back into the middle of the courtyard. They took their stances, eight feet away from each other. Arya in her water dancing stance and Triston in his usual position. The two once again locked eyes, Arya smirked and Triston did the same. They continued to stare at each other before finally charging at each other, blades at the ready and completely full of energy.

 **Cregan's POV**

 **Early morning, center of Harrenhall...**

Many were suprised by the death of Roose Bolton, however, when they heard about his attempt at treason they weren't as shocked to hear of what Cregan had done to him. The leech lords death was not the most suprising thing though, the fact that no Bolton men left. Roose was betrayed by his own men at Cregan's orders, this was not so suprising to everyone though, Bolton's soldiers knew nothing but fear so Cregan knew how to use that to their advantage. All of them were probably so terrified of him that they probably just stayed out of fear that the same thing that happened to Roose Bolton would happen to them.

The only Bolton left alive now was not even a legitimate one, Ramsay Snow, the bane of all The North. Cregan decided that the bastard of Bolton would be a problem for laterand that he will deal with him after the war is over but right now he had more pressing concerns.

The Lannisters are planing an attack on Harrenhall.

Yesterday a scout came in reporting a massive force of 40,000 men. It was a contingency of mercenary groups and Lannister soldiers, the entire host was lead by Kevan Lannister, Tywin's younger brother. At first, many were in panic. The Lannisters had many more numbers than theirs. In war, the rule was nine times out of ten the force with the bigger number would always win, Cregan shattered that rule many time though. The combined force of just Cregan, Vesemir, Rodrick, Lily, Tarkus, Edwyn, Rodrik and Dacey all together were enough to take a small army. Cregan, Rodrik and Dacey were already names to be feared in The Lannister lines, however, Kevan was a smart man, he wasn't going to underestimate Cregan and his army, even with his superior numbers.

While The Frey soldiers were absolutely terrified alongside some of The Bolton force, the remainder of Bolton's men as well as the other Northerners had their orders. Their king had told them, defend Harrenhall no matter the cost, and the northerners were fully ready to give out their lives.

Inside the main fortress Cregan, Rodrick and Dacey were strategising their defenses.

They stood in a stone room with nothing but a fireplace and a table in the middle. On the table was a map of Harrenhall, showing all the parts of the massive fortress.

"We don't have enough men to defend the entirity of the outer walls" Rodrik pointed out.  
"Perhaps we should fall back to just the inner walls, if we spread out a bit it could prove enough" Dacey added her opinion.  
"No, it still isn't enough" Cregan's eyes were fixed to the map, not even budging in any other direction.  
"We don't have enough men to even garrison this damn stronghold, how are we supposed to defend it" Dacey became more and more annoyed, clearly showing her disdain for Harrenhall in many ways.  
"General, do you have any ideas?" Rodrik turned to Cregan, who still had his eyes fixed on the map.

Cregan was silent for a few moments, his eyes not being able to divert from the map until he stopped leaning on the table and straightened himself. "Harrenhall is to large for us to defend, many know this, so does Kevan Lannister." Cregan started explaining his plan. "That is this fortresses greatest weakness, however, every weakness has it's strength." Rodrik and Dacey raised their eyebrows at Cregan's statement, confused at what they he was saying.

"How can a fortress that is to big to be defendable be turned into our advantage?" Rodrik said rather skeptical at the Cregan's words.

"The Lannisters know this stronghold isn't defendable, that's why Tywin ordered them to retreat in the first place." Cregan pulled out makeshift figurines and started placing them onto the map. Both Rodrik and Dacey could see Cregan putting the pieces of some puzzle together, the gears in his head were turning, they just didn't know what he was putting together.

 _'So that was your plan Tywin. Weaken us and with hunger and diseases until we can't fight anymore, then take us out and earn yourself some valuable hostages. Smart Tywin, but now smart enough'_ Cregan thought to himself as he continued to place the figurines onto the map.

"If The Lannister's intend to use Harrenhall's size to their advantage then we will just have to use it's size to OUR advantage" Cregan's words made both Rodrik adn Dacey widen their eyes in pure disbelief, but then he started to explain the plan.

 **A few hours later...**

 **Noon, northerner courtyard, southeast Harrenhall...**

Cregan walked to the courtyard to see many soldiers picking up their equipment in a hurry. Almost all of them had expressions of panic or grief, knowing that in almost a week from now, they were probably going to die. Cregan got up onto a wooden scaffold to oversee all of them. With every soldier he saw Cregan spent his time memorising the lines of their faces, he wanted to remember all of them if they are to die.

"Everyone, form up!" Cregan yelled out, causing all of them to take formations, all other emotions dissapearing, the only thing the was left were stern faces.

They all stood in lines according to their ranks. Cregan watched them all line up and stand firm. Many of them were gripping their fists or gritting their teeth to hide their panic, but Cregan knew fear when he saw it, and these people were all terrified of what was to come.

"All of you here probably expect me to give out some inspiring speech to lift all your spirits, if that is so then I'm sorry to dissapoint you." Cregan began speaking from the scaffold, his words were grim but his tone was still potraying nothing. "The Freys have abandoned us and with our current number The Lannisters outnumber us by two times our current force." almost all of the soldiers eyes widened from what their general was saying and yet Cregan still continued. "Many of you here will probably die. The man standing next to you could be viciously maimed or flat out killed, the men behind you could be taken captive and be tortured in ways unimaginable by the Lannisters." the northerners were now just looking at Cregan in pure horror and disbelief. "It is for these reasons I tell you this now, for those of you who don't want to die, run. You will not be judged nor executed, flee, save yourselves, or stay, and fight until you die." despite his promises Cregan was suprised to see what happened. No one was even budging.

The soldiers stood in silence, their faces still had expressions of fear and yet they weren't moving an inch. After a few moments of silence Cregan saw once soldier taking a step forward, from his armor and weapons he seemed to be a more high ranking officer, a captain or liutenant perhaps. The man pulled of his helmet for everyone to see his scared-covered face. An older man, probably in his mid to late forties.

"General, we will stand our ground, we will fight." the captain spoke for him and his men. The soldiers seemed to agree with him though, saluting their general by pounding their fists where their hearts should be.

Cregan sighed and looked directly at the man. His scars carried all across his face, the signs of someone who has lived and fought through many wars and battles. "We live, and die by your orders general!" the captain added as he too did a salute towards Cregan.

"If I ordered you all to die, would you willingly do it?!" Cregan half yelled half whispered towards the soldiers, narrowing his eyes towards them at the same time. All of the soldiers once again stood silent, Cregan thought that the captains words were wind then, but something happened, something even Cregan didn't expect.

"We don't want to die general!" Cregan heard of the soldiers from the back scream out. This made Cregan close his eyes and sigh once again.

"Good..." Cregan said just loud enough to let all the soldiers hear him. He opened his eyes to see them all, he now knew all of their faces, he saw them in their weakest moments, the moments of fear. But then he also saw them in their strongest moments, the moments in where they were willing to sacrifice themselves for their king. _**"Then for all you brave fools who are willing to stay behind, I congratulate you!"**_ Cregan yelled out once more, the usual emotionless tone was now replaced by a heroic voice, the voice that soldiers looked for in their leader. Whereas his previous tone had no amount of optimism in it, this voice almost seemed to inspire all of them. The soldiers looked at him as if he were already a hero still not being able to believe what they are witnessing. Cregan bashed his left fist onto his chest where his heart should be, doing a salute.

 _ **"THIS IS AN HONEST SALUTE SOLDIERS! TO ALL OF YOU!"**_ Cregan yelled out, every single word he spoke filled with courage and honor.

The soldiers copied their general, bashing their fists down onto their chest where their hearts were and making a HMPH grunt as they did so. They all looked at Cregan once again, their once terrified faces replaced with the faces of confidence and bravery. These were the sons of farmers, the sons of lowly merchants and sheep herders, the sons of fisherman, the sons of inkeepers and blacksmiths. These were the true men of The North

 _ **"FOR THE KING IN THE NORTH!"**_ Cregan yelled out for all the men to hear. The soldiers then broke from the salute and unsheathed their swords before pointing them high in the air and chanting.

 **"THE KING IN THE NORTH! THE KING IN THE NORTH! THE KING IN THE NORTH!"**

Note:

Man, this chapter had some really opposite situations here. The first part was just Triston and Arya sparring, having a bit more character development for those two. The second part however, had Cregan going from the most crestfallen speech ever to becoming fucking Aragon from Lord of The Rings.

Suggestion: Read that scene with Cregan's speech but while listening to the music that played during Aragon's epic speech in Return of The King. Trust me, it will be fucking TEN TIMES more inspiring.


	43. Chapter 42: Lions and Wolves

**Chapter 42: The Defense of Harrenhall**

 **Lannister host, early morning, just outside Harrenhall...**

Kevan lead his men through the empty fortress he dreaded to enter. He never liked Harrenhall, not because of that stupid made up curse, Kevan knew that the curse of Harrenhall was nothing more than a stupid wives-tale. Despite that though, Kevan felt an uneasy atmosfere cover his every sense. Smoke scratched at his neck causing him to cough, probably a result from the thousands of burning bodies. Death was a common theme here, nothing escaped it, no one could avoid it. The black bricks, walls and buildings of Harrenhall had an empty yet somehow haunted feeling, like someone was watching them.

"M'lord, Lord Tywin told us that the northerners were going to be here" one of his men rode up to him wearing the traditional Lannister captain uniform.  
"It appears they have retreated..." Kevan turned to the captain while still moving his eyes left and right, seemingly looking for something.  
"Hmph, those northerners, always blabbing on about honor and duty but they'll run with their tail between their legs the moment they face a challenge" the captain snarked.  
"Carefull captain, we underestimated the Starks many times, look where it got us." Kevan finally turned his eyes towards the captain, narrowing them at him at the same time.

They contiued on to the inner most centre of the stronghold. The unnerving feeling that Kevan had when they first entered Harrenhall had now become even greater. He could feel a constant scratching feeling at the back of his head. Cregan had been maning the host that was supposed to defend Harrenhall. Kevan knew of The Demon's older brother, The Young Wolf as people kept calling him, he has been pronounced king and as of now has been completely devastating the Lannister lines. He has not lost any battle so far.

Despite his brother being a force to be reckoned with, his younger brother, Cregan, is a threat two times bigger than the supposed Wolf King. That is why Kevan was wary to begin with. He knew about the incident 7 years ago, of how a ten year old child viciously slaughtered fifty armed Tarly soldiers. When he first heard about the stories Kevan thought it unbelievable, 'No child could take 5 grown men, much less 50 armed soldiers' he always thought to himself. As the years gone by however Kevan somehow started to believe the stories.

Some five or so years ago Kevan traveled to The Reach for a chance to find a suitable wife for his son Lancel. On his travels, Kevan stopped by Highgarden. Since he probably wouldn't get another chance Kevan decided to meet with the supposed Demon of The North, and so he did. When the two finally met Kevan expected nothing but a child with maybe a more sterner attitude, perhaps like his father. He didn't find that boy. Instead of that Kevan found an emotionless being with seemingly no compassion in his heart. Kevan still remembers the boys face, even from all those years ago. His fiery red hair, his greyish-blue eyes, his always neutral tone and expression.

Despite those things the Stark boy seemed to be a completely normal person, besides the lack of any sort of emotion. He studied, he trained, he rode a horse, all things any ward should be taught. When he fought however, the simple boy turned into a master swordsman, probably outclassing even his nephew Jamie. Every single part of his stance, grip, posture, riposting, parrying, all of it was perfect and on point. The one thing that was off about it though was the way he fought. Cregan seemed to favor dual-wielding instead of a sword and shield. When he asked the boy why he fought like that Cregan only stared at him and responded...

 _"I don't like having my hands free and a shield is too clumsy, with two swords I can hit twice as fast and kill twice as much..."_

 **Center of Harrenhall...**

Kevan and his soldiers finally arrived to the centre of Harrenhall. The uneasy feeling that had been itching at his head did not go away, even if the fortress was basically under their control. The giant keep in the centre loomed over his army, casting a large shadow down onto all of them as the Lannisters spread out across the the inner walls. Kevan continued to look around, still feeling an uneasy atmosphere surrounding the entire stronghold. All the buildings and towers were locked, those with now roof's were already abandoned while others had no windows as well as locked doors.

"M'lord... look..." the captain snapped Kevan from his thoughts, pointing at a man with a hood over his face and a black cloak covering his entire body.

The hooded man appeared seemingly out of nowhere. He stood in plain sight, the only cover he had was from the shadow that the center stronghold eminated. Kevan already knew this was a trap, however, he didn't know what one man could do against 40,000. The soldiers almost jumped out from their armor when they turned their heads towards the hooded figure. The illumination made the hooded figure look almost phantom-like in appearance. After their little panic attack, the soldiers closest to the hooded figure took their spears and surrounded the hooded man.

"..." Kevan looked at the hooded figure in silence, trying to figure out who it is while dozens of Lannister men surrounded him and pointed their spears towards him.

The hooded figure stood frozen while all the soldiers continued to surround him. The figure moved his head to look around at the Lannister men. From what Kevan could see of his face, the lower jaw was covered in small scares and scratches with one large scare coming down his left cheek. From the position it seemed to be going from his cheek and up to his left eye. While the hood was covering most of the man's upper head and the cloak covered the entire body Kevan could see some sort of fire red strands of hair going down the man's neck. After a few more moments of soldiers slowly approaching him, the hooded man looked past the soldiers, and directly towards Kevan.

Kevan then saw his eyes and face, the same greyish-blue eyes and emotionless expression he saw five years ago. It was at that moment that Kevan realised who the hooded figure was...

"Identify yourself!" one of the soldiers yelled out towards the hooded man.  
"..." the hooded man said no words he only continued to look around him, probably assesing his current situation.  
"Oi, you not hear us! Show yourself NOW!" the other soldier also yelled, going a step closer to the man.

Screams then started to fill the entire courtyard.

"Pull off that hood!"

"..."

"You deaf boy?! He said put off the hood!"

"..."

"That's it! Show us your face or you die!"

"..."

"Alright then... EVERYONE ATTACK!"

As everyone continued to scream like madmen some soldiers started to come closer to the hooded man who only kept standing in the same area in silence, not even budging at the literal army slowly approaching him. Every soldier that budged nearer to him made Kevan even more worried. He continued to watch the soldiers slowly approach before Kevan screamed out...

"ALL OF YOU, GET AWAY FROM HIM, NOW!" Kevan yelled as fast as he could, but it was to late...

All the men who were closest to the hooded figure were emediately hit with arrows, instantly sticking to their necks and killing them. Kevan watched dozens suddenly being showered with arrows, some were fast enough to block them with their shields, others were protected by their armor. Despite these things however, by the time Kevan could react again, hundreds were dead by arrows. Kevan once again screamed out as he unsheathed his sword.

"EVERYONE, WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" Kevan let out a vicious roar as he lifted his sword high and readied himself for the fight.

 **Cregan's POV**

As he ripped of the cloak it revealed Cregan in a full suit of armor and both Frostbite and Demonsteel strapped to his sides. As he unsheathed both of his swords Cregan yelled out with all his might.

"ATTACK!" Cregan yelled out to his men.

With that, thousands upon thousands of men wearing Stark battle armor barged open the doors of the supposedly abandoned buildings. The moment they got out of the abandoned buildings the Stark soldiers started to kill all of the Lannisters closest to them. As the infantry battled down on the inner courtyard arrows continued to rain down from the walls and stone towers. Cregan had placed them up on the walls where they would be the most effective as well as making Lily their temporary captain. The sound of metal clashing, shields banging, arrows flying, war cryes being let out, all could be heard throughout Harrenhall. The Lannisters weren't exprecting an attack, they let their guard down, they became vulnerable. Even with the number difference the combined force of both the infantries quick suprise and the rain arrows quickly skimmed down that difference. With every second that passed another ten Lannister men were killed by either arrows from the air or a slash from the swords of Cregan's footmen.

From another building Tarkus came in, almost destroying the area around the door from where he barged thourgh. To the Stark men, he was an iron clad goliath, coming to their aid. To the Lannister men though, Tarkus was an unstoppable force of destruction that was cleaving through lines and lines of soldiers. He really did earn his title 'Black Iron Tarkus'.

Rodrick and Rodrik were already in the midst of battle, fighting side by side. They took down more and more men as skillfully as they could. The two seemed to be on the same level of combat skill and yet those two together seemed to have perfect coordination with each other. Together they were holding their own against 15 men at once, taking each one of them down as quickly as possible to not get surrounded.

From atop the walls Lily was busy ordering the bowmen as they all continued to rain hell down on the Lannister soldiers. For a fourteen year old, she was quite adept at leading. If these were any other men, they would just do whatever came to their mind, however, northerners held respect for the combat prowess of both men and women.

In another part of the courtyard Dacey fought beside her own men, bashing the skulls of any Lannister men that came close with absolute ferocity.

Every party was fighting from each side in a different courtyard of the inner walls. As they continued to fight, Cregan's soldiers were slowly pushing the Lannister's back into one single corner, making them a prime target for archer fire. Slowly but surely the Lannister soldiers were getting backed even more into a corner and as they became more cramped between each other their spears and swords were becoming less and less usefull. The less space they had to move around, the less they could defend and attack with their weapons. Their last hope was forming a shield wall to defend themselves from infantry, however, it still made them vulnerable to archers.

Cregan took down another Lannister soldier. He cut off his sword hand first with Frostbite before stabbing into his knee with Demonsteel and decapitating him with another swing from Frostbite. Cregan watched as his soldiers were ruthlessly killing any Lannister men in sight. Despite how much he wanted to jump into the thick of the fight and end this battle quickly, Cregan had to be carefull. It had been months Cregan had been in an actuall fight, the few men he had already killed were already making his hand shake and his vision become blurred. Cregan knew that in Bitterbridge as well, he still kept killing though, his anger got the better of him.

As Cregan continued to remember him losing control in Bitterbridge he could hear a yell coming closer and closer towards him, another Lannister running to his death. Cregan sharply turned around only to see the Lannister man already dead with his torso being split in half with extreme precision. Atop the body stood Vesemir, his longsword, FlameSinger, leaning on his shoulder. Vesemir's face had a splatter of blood on his right cheek as well as having blood dripping down his longsword. He stared at Cregan with his famous cocky smile as well as an 'You owe me one' kind of look in his eyes.

"Took you long enough..." Cregan said rather non-chalantly towards the old man who still had his cocky smirk before walking to his side.  
"Well you know the old saying, 'Better late than never...', wouldn't you agree General Stark?" Vesemir and Cregan now stood side by side, watching the battle unfold in front of them.  
"Fair enough, did you at least close the gates like I told you?" Cregan continued to talk to him in his usual stoic face and voice as the battle raged on.  
"Closed and barred, just like you ordered General Stark" Vesemir said as if almost boasting as he shrugged it of as nothing short of a small feat.  
"Are you ever going to reffer to me with any sort of respect?" Cregan lazily flicked his eyes towards Vesemir as he sneakily added the question.  
"Probably not General Stark..." Vesemir chuckled a bit as Cregan averted his eyes back to the battle.

Cregan sighed in annoyance for a moment, closing his eyes and slowly tilting his head downwards, "...fair enough..." Cregan quietly said as he returned to his usual posture. They continued to stare at the fierce battle in front of them. By now the numbers were probably even with The Lannisters now being backed completely into a corner and all the courtyards of the inner wall being completely littered with corpses.

Another yell came from both Vesemir's and Cregan's behind. The two turned around to see two Lannister soldiers charging towards them, one with a spear, the other with a morningstar. Before Cregan and Vesemir could kill them though a large figure of silver-grey fur came jumping into their range of vision. It was Cregan's wolf, Sif, jumping in on the battle.

Sif first killed the one with the spear before ripping off the man's head. The second Lannister, in pure terror, started flailing his sword towards the wolf only for him to meet the same fate. Sif had a ferocious expression as his snout was covered in blood, slowly dripping from his nose onto the ground. His ferality dissapeared when he looked back to his master. Whatever aggresivnes he had dissapeared.

"Good job boy" Cregan said softly as he knelt down and patted the wolf on the head.  
"Now... sick 'em..." Cregan pointed towards the Lannister men as Sif left his masters side and continued on with his rampage.

Cregan and Vesemir once again stood side by side, watching as the Lannisters began to be mauled by the giant wolf jumping towards them.

"So General Stark, what are your orders?" Vesemir broke the silence between the two.  
"If it moves, it dies, if it dies, you move on." Cregan responded as simply as he could.  
"Welp, looks like it's time for me to earn my pay!" Vesemir said as a smile of delight came to his face before he charged towards the Lannister lines.

Now, Cregan stood alone once again. He watched as his men continued to fight with all the bravery and ferociousness they could muster up. With every one of his men that fell Cregan's expression soured up a bit. Cregan knew he could just go in and end this all right now, he could save his men from death. 'We don't want to die general!' Cregan remembered the cries of one of the soldiers. If that man was lucky he probably got a quick death, if not, he is probably bleeding out somewhere in this ocean of corpses, wishing that he could have been at least some use to the house he served.

 _ **'Cregan, you can end this...'**_  
'No...'  
 _ **'You can end this right now...'**_  
'No...'  
 _ **'These people are dying because your too selfish to save them...'**_  
'Stop it...'  
 _ **'THEY ARE DYING CREGAN!'**_  
'Shut up...'

Cregan clenched his fist, tightening the grip on his blades as he gritted his teeth. As much as he was resisting, Cregan felt his conciousness slowly slipping away, he was trying to take over. No matter how hard he tried to keep himself at bay, the more he watched the battle rage on, the more he felt himself lossing control. There was no stopping it...

Cregan was getting blood-drunk again.

 **Robb's POV**

"FOR THE KING IN THE NORTH!"

Robb's soldiers chanted out as they all charged towards the Lannister army. Robb lead the way, followed closely by his bodyguards and lord. Behind them were over 10,000 heavy and light cavalry, along with 25,000 infantry and archers charging behind them. As Robb and his army continued to ride forward towards battle, they all kept chanting.

"THE KING IN THE NORTH! THE KING IN THE NORTH!" They all yelled out as both the Stark and Lannister cavalry finally clashed.

The moment he made impact, Robb drove his sword through a Lannister horseman's throat. He quickly pulled his blade out and continued fighting in the massive crowd of both horses and soldiers. Despite The Lannister soldiers having better forged weapons, they were no match for The North's heavy cavarly. The first wave was quickly dispatched, all the cavalry was killed, now only the infantry and archers were left.

"CHARGE!" Robb signaled his cavalry to regroup and charge once more to the Lannister shieldwall that they had desperately and quickly put together.

Robb charged once more towards the Lannister soldiers this time letting his archers release a volley fire first to divert the enemy archers with another target. Robb lead his cavalry towards the shieldwall, thankfully, they didn't have spears, only swords. The moment their mount impacted with the shields, all of the Lannisters broke formation.

He slashied and stabbed throughout the Lannister crowd that surrounded both his horse and his cavalries horses. Robb slowly carved the soldiers away from him as his soldiers did the same. By the time the infantry managed to come in the entire shieldwall had been broken, making it much more easier for them to break through their lines and get to the Lannister archers. Robb sliced of one of The Lannister soldiers head, by now his entire sword had been covered in blood. Whilst they fought, his entire amry kept chanting.

"THE KING IN THE NORTH!" his soldiers continued to yell out, by now it almost became a war cry for them.

Slowly but surely, the Lannisters kept dying. Robb and his army were savagely carving their way to the archers, who were desperately trying to keep firing their arrows but were constantly being stopped by Robb's own archers.

The infantry line had been broken, all chance of victory for the Lannisters had been crushed completely. They laid down their weapon and lifted their arms in the air, constantly shouting "Yield!" in a desperate attempt to save themselves. Robb ordered his men to stand down, the will be no more unnecesary bloodshed.

"Yield! We yield! Please, no more!" another Lannister soldier screamed out, pleading for his life as he fell to his knees.

With him, all of the soldiers laid down their weapons and surrendered. They had won this battle, another decisive victory for The North and Riverlands. Robb looked on as his soldiers either celebrated the victory by lifting their weapons high up into the air or as they pushed the Lannister soldiers down to the ground and clapped them in irons. Not many people would take all those men hostages, but Robb wasn't ruthless like Tywin or obsessed with justice like Stannis, he knew when to show mercy.

"We've won this battle, but we've much more to go until we can win the war..." Robb murmured to himself as he pulled the reins of his horse, pulling the horse back and going away from the battlefield.

Soon, they march for The Westerlands. With the full force of Winter behind them.

Note:

Welp, hope you guys enjoyed another exciting chapter of The Super Stark Bros. (trademark acquired). In this chapter we had two battles happening at seemingly the same time and I used it as a show of how succesfull Robb was becoming in the war and how Cregan was beggining to slowly 'lose' himself.

NOW QUIZ TIME EVERYONE!

I have a question for yall... I want all of you guys to guess the armored man's identity (the voice in Cregan's head). If you have an answer then please PM me. DO NOT LEAVE IT IN THE REVIEWS. In case anyone reads the reviews who couldn't figure it out then I don't want them to be spoiled when I reveal it in the story.

Hint: It is a mythical being who we have seen in both the show and books.

THAT'S ALL THE TIME WE HAVE FOR TODAY TUNE IN NEXT TIME FOR THE EXCITING ADVENTURES OF THE SUPER STARK BROS... Play me off, Paul!

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Wait, what do you mean we don't have an ending theme?

...

...

...

Dammit...


	44. Chapter 43: A Wolf's Lust for Blood

**Chapter 43: A Wolf's Lust for Blood**

"Wake up Stark..." a faint echo travelled throughout Cregan's conciousness.

As those words continued to echo throughout the empty void from where he was floating in, Cregan tried to look around and find someone, find something, but as he expected, he found nothing but empty darkness. As Cregan looked down to see his arms he saw that he was still in his battle armor, despite this though, he still had wounds. Arrows stuck out of his shoulders and back, pieces of his armor were worn out, broken off or at the edge of falling off their place, broken tips from spears also stuck out around his thighs and lower body. Everything about him showed that Cregan was in a battle and got injured, just recently.

The strange thing though was that Cregan didn't remember being injured or passing out in any sort of way. It was quite obvious he was unconcious, Cregan knew that much but before he could try to remember what happened up until he passed out his entire body started to shake.

Cregan slowly opened his eyes, for a moment he saw Vesemir, Edwyn, Rodrik and Dacey standing over him. Vesemir seemed to be holding a wooden, almost bowl shaped object. Before he could continue to regain his conciousness and his vision a sudden burst of freezing cold water splashed on Cregan's face, waking him up emediately.

"Vesemir! He was already awake!" Edwyn turned his head towards Vesemir who Cregan could see was now actually holding a bucket filled with water.  
"Well would you have liked me to continue slapping him?" Vesemir lazily flicked his eyes towards Edwyn, now just holding the bucket by it's handle.  
"You know he could have drowned?!" Edwyn continued to yell at Vesemir's brash actions like a parent scolding a child.  
"But he didn't, now did he Edwyn?" Vesemir let out a witty retort, seemingly not even caring if the man who was paying them was still alive.

Before they could continued bickering both Vesemir and Edwyn were interrupted by Dacey. "Can both of you please shut up?!" Dacey said sternly, scolding both of the older men with her fierce stare.  
"Yes ma'am..." the two said in unison, placing their heads downwards in embarassment. Despite Dacey being twice as younger than them, she was definitely being more mature than Vesemir and Edwyn.

The four then returned to Cregan, who was still coughing from the sudden amount of water in his mouth, thankfully he didn't drown. Rodrik and Edwyn knelt down beside Cregan as Dacey remained on her feet. Vesemir threw the bucket away as he too continued to stand straight. In an attempt to get the remaining water out of his throat Cregan tried to lie down to his sides but when he did a sudden pain hit his entire body, everywhere except his left leg. "Carefull general, you were badly injured during the fight" Rodrik said to him as he pulled Cregan onto his back again. Cregan seemed to be suprised by the news, his eyes widened a bit but it was not noticable due to his expression of pain. Unlike Edwyn, Rodrik and Dacey however, Vesemir did notice it...

"So you don't remember, do you Stark?" Vesemir said rather grimly, his annoyed expression was now replaced by a much more softer face.

Cregan only looked at him, nodding slightly in response, he seemed to still be to weak speak. He once again coughed in pain as he tried to move his arms and legs to get up. Blood slowly dripped from many spots from his body. In a reaction to the pain Cregan placed a hand on his lower left body on one of his wounds. When he pulled back his hand he saw that the armored plate gauntlets he wore were now covered in blood that slowly travelled down from his hand to his arm. Cregan once again widened his eyes, but only a little.

'That's... that's my blood...' Cregan thought to himself, almost as if he was trying to confirm to himself that he was bleeding.

"Easy Stark, we don't want you bleeding out on us..." Vesemir wrapped Cregan's arm around his shoulder as he slowly picked him up from the ground. It took some time, the weight of both Cregan's armor and his own body, coupled with his wounds, made picking Cregan up from the ground more of a endevour than it should be.

When Vesemir finally picked him up Cregan saw the destruction that the defense of Harrenhall had caused. Corpses, everywhere, littering both the buildings and courtyards. Cregan could see Stark, Forrester, Bolton and Mormont soldiers carrying the bodies away, probably to burn them and prevent any sort of diseases to spread. Death was everywhere, both westerner and northerner corpses lined up the entire inner walls. Cregan continued to look around at the carnage, not changing his expression of pain, now the pain was really becoming a nuisance more than anything. He wrapped his other free hand around his lower torso in an attempt to quel the pain, nothing changed though, the pain was still there.

"Admiring your work Stark?" Vesemir said, still holding onto Cregan as he turned his head towards the old man, confused by his words.  
"W... what..." Cregan asked weakly, still not being able to speak as clearly as usual.  
"Then I was right, you don't remember anything" Vesemir closed his eyes for a moment, almost acting as if he was dissapointed by Cregan's words.

"We can talk about what happened later, right now, we need to get those spears and arrows out of you..." Edwyn stopped Vesemir from saying another word as he pointed towards the entrance of the main fortress of Harrenhall. Vesemir started to slowly walk towards the main fortress, his footsteps matching Cregan's as they started to make their way, now with Rodrik also helping Cregan walk. With every step Cregan felt a tremendous amount of pain, the weight of his armor made it feel like he was carrying a massive horse. Blood drops fell onto the floor as he felt something trickling down from his forehead onto his chin before dropping to the floor.

"How did I end up like this?" Cregan finally managed to speak out words of reason, flicking his eyes between the two men who were helping him walk.  
"We'll tell you later General..." Rodrik said before Vesemir could respond, clearly stopping the old man from giving out another witty retort.

From what Cregan could see, Vesemir, Rodrik, Dacey were also bloodied but not from injuries. They all had blood splatters spread across both themselves and their weapons, all except Edwyn, who didn't participate in the battle. The last thing Cregan could remember was him watching the battle between his and Kevan Lannister's soldiers. After that, everything was just a blurr. But there was something else Cregan could remember, what he was feeling during the battle, the feeling that are still overcoming him now. His hands and knees trembled, his vision became blurred, his head started to hurt, all things he is feeling right now.

 **Sansa's POV**

 **Riverrun, late afternoon...**

Sansa sat with her mother on a balcony as the two watched Arya and Triston continue on with their now daily sparring sessions. Both of them were sitting next to a table with a tray of lemoncakes on it, the sweets Sansa adored. Arya and Triston had been fighting non-stop for a full hour now, they were covered in sweat and were barely able to breath, yet they continued on either way. Their mother was reluctant to let Arya train at swordfighting but with the determination of Arya and a few reasurences from Sansa, Catelyn finally accepted defeat and let Arya train.

"I will honestly never know why she loves sparring with that boy so much" Catelyn said as she continued to look towards the sweat-covered Arya who was still training.  
"I don't think it's the sparring she likes so much..." Sansa said playfully as she took a lemoncake from the tray and ate it.

The two shared a slight laugh, something that was becoming a rare occasion. Ever since Robb and Cregan left their mother couldn't stop worrying about them. Every day she would go to the maester asking if there was any news, if there was no news she would go to her uncle Brynden, who stayed behind to look after Riverrun, and ask him if there was any news. Despite her mother clearly being too worried about them, Sansa didn't blame her, at night, when everything went silent and the sun had gone out, she also would worry about her brothers. 'What if something happened to them?' she would always ask herself. 'Would they be taken hostage? Would they be executed?' so many dark thoughts would fill her head before sleep would finally take her.

To keep herself busy and distract herself from worrying Sansa would spend a lot of time tutoring little Lyarra. She would give her lessons on writting and reading, something that was difficult for only a seven year old girl and yet Lyarra would never cease to suprise her. Despite being only seven years old as well as not being nobility, Lyarra was a quick learner. In only a few lessons she already learned how to write a few letters on a pen and paper as well as being able to read in a decent fashion.

Besides her usual simple white dress, Sansa and her mother had Lyarra try on a few new dresses but despite her knowledge in reading and writting, it seemed that dresses weren't her strong suit. Whenever she would try on a new dress Lyarra would say that it either didn't fit her or that she didn't like it. In that behaviour she seemed to be much more like Arya.

As she continued to wallow in her thoughts, Sansa noticed Lyarra sitting to the side of the courtyard, watching Arya and Triston spar as she happily swung her legs from the chair where she sat on. Beside her was Nymeria, Arya's direwolf, lying down and sleeping on the cold hard floor. As Lyarra watched the two spar she lightly tilted her head left and right while humming the lullaby Sansa would always sing her.

"You know you don't need to spend all your time taking care of her" Catelyn snapped her daughter from her thoughts, noticing that Sansa was staring at the young Lyarra.  
"I know, but I want to. Besides, she's good company." Sansa gave her mother a warm smile as she turned her head towards Catelyn who returned it with an equally warm smile.  
"My little girl is all grown up..:" her mother gently carresed Sansa's cheek and ran her fingers through Sansa's fiery red hair.

The more years that had gone by, the more Sansa was becoming to look and act like her mother. Sansa knew that, and she liked it. Whenever she would find herself in a situation where she wouldn't know what to do, Sansa would always ask herself 'What would mother do?'. On the way to Riverrun, when Lyarra caught a fever, Sansa wanted to sow a circle of the seven like her mother but unlike sowing a broch or a sowing a piece of a torn dress, Sansa still wasn't adept enough to sow something like that.

As Sansa thought back to King's Landing she remembered Sandor Clegane, the man that helped her younger sister get to Riverrun. Sansa never did figure out why Sandor helped Arya escape but she assumed it had something to do with her brother, Cregan.

Sansa knew the story of The Mountain and The Hound. How The Mountain, Sandor's own brother, showed his little brothers head into a brazier, burning off half of his face in the process. He did it just because Sandor was playing with a wooden soldier figurine that was gifted to The Mountain when he was only 13 and his brother was 10 years old. In the end, their father told everyone that the burn was caused by a incident with a burning curtain. Just because their father wanted there to be a knight in the family, and so there was. Gregor Clegan was knighted by Rhaegar Targaryen, and during Robert's Rebellion it was he who killed Rhaegar's children before raping his wife, Elia Martell with the blood of her children still fresh on his hands before he ripped her in half as well when he was finished.

When Sandor brought Arya back to Riverrun he was granted a massive reward, however, a man like that is probably now drinking that money away in some tavern.

Sansa was glad that she and her siblings did not experience anything close to that kind of traumatic experience. All of them were as close as they could be, even her and Arya, who were known to constantly be bickering between each other, had resolved their differences once they were reunited in Riverrun. Even Cregan, who always acted as coldly as he could towards everyone, would treat Sansa with a constant warm look that many people would rarely see.

 **Cregan's POV**

 **Center Harrenhall fortress, late afternoon...**

The stitches that Qyburn was sowing his wounds with was nothing compared to the pain he felt when he first regained conciousness. When they removed Cregan armor Edwyn almost threw up at the massive amount of blood combined with arrows and spears that stuck out of his body. Edwyn was adept in medicine but he was not able to treat so many wounds without causing even mroe damage. Thankfully, Qyburn was an ex-maester. As an act of returning a favor, he decided to perform a surgery on Cregan. Luckily, Edwyn had a few drops of Milk of The Poppy to quel the pain. It wasn't enough to knock Cregan out, but it was enough to numb the pain for an hour or two.

Rodrik would forcibly pull out the spears and arrows from Cregan's body with Qyburn taking care of any parts that broke off but were still stuck in Cregan's body. The room was completely silent for the entire surgery except the occasional grunt of pain that Cregan would let out. The wounds from the battle only added to Cregan's scars while the stiches were now decorating even more of his body. Despite being an ex-maester, Qyburn was more skilled in stiching up wounds than Edwyn was. However, the one thing that made it difficult was the tools that they were using for the operation.

The surgery was used with... unconventional tools.

Tools that were normally used for torture were now being used to patch up an incredibly injured man. An extremely sharp and precise knife that Roose Bolton would use to flay his enemies was now being used to slice off the tainted flesh from Cregan's wounds, how ironic. Along with a knife, Qyburn also used a hot iron to burn away the tainted flesh. All of these things were never meant to be used for medicinal purposes but sadly, this is all they had.

"There we are..." Qyburn said as he finished sowing the stiches to the final wound on Cregan's upper right torso.  
"Thank you Maester Qyburn" Cregan spoke the first words of reason that he had said in hours.  
"There is no need for that my lord, it is the least I can do to repay you and your companions for saving my life" the ex-maester said in a humble tone.

With that Qyburn, Rodrik, Dacey, Edwyn and Vesemir started to leave the makeshift medical room they had set up. "Vesemir, you stay..." Cregan stopped Vesemir just when he was about to leave the room. As Vesemir turned his head towards him Cregan was limping towards a white tunic. All it took was a single look from Cregan to have Vesemir figure out what he wanted to talk about. Vesemir closed the door to the room as Cregan got to the tunic and carefully put it on to not unintentionaly take off the many bandages that were covering his body. Cregan then sat on a chair that was placed near to a table as he pointed for Vesemir to sit on the chair close to his own.

"So Stark, what did you want to talk about?" Vesemir asked Cregan as he sat down on the chair opposite to Cregan's.  
"You already know what I want to talk about..." Cregan put it as simply and as bluntly as he could.

Vesemir sighed, closing his eyes for a moment before he looked directly towards Cregan. His usual non-chalant and relaxed expression was now replaced by a stern and serious face. "If we are talk about this now, I want you to promise me something..." Vesemir's words made Cregan raise his eyebrow for a moment. "From this day forward, I want there to be no secrets between us" Vesemir made his demands only for Cregan to now sigh.

"And why would I agree to these terms?" Cregan flicked his eyes towards Vesemir as he asked him.

"This is the same thing as Bitterbridge. You went into a rage and killed everyone before falling unconciouss. At first, I thought you were just exhausted, but no human can be that durable." Vesemir then pointed to Cregan's bandages before continuing. "If you want me and my companions to continue following you, then you need to tell me what that is before I tell you what happened yesterday." Vesemir once again explained his terms, his tone and voice completely serious.

Cregan only stared at Vesemir before letting out one, long sigh, he closed his eyes and pointed his head towards the ground. He continued to do so for a few more moments before answering him, "Alright, no more secrets..." he said in a whisper.

To his words Vesemir let out a smile as he reached out a hand towards Cregan, "Deal?", he asked Cregan, his voice now becoming less and less serious.  
"Deal..." Cregan responded as he grabbed Vesemir's hand and the two exchanged a firm handshake, sealing the promise.

With that, Vesemir began to explain what happened.

In the midst of the battle, a horrendous scream was heard. Before anyone could react to the scream however, Cregan came charging towards the Lannister lines at an almost inhuman speed. The moment he got to them the slaughter began, despite The Starks soldiers still trying to keep up with him, Cregan was in massive frenzy killing anything around him. While he was slaughtering the Lannisters Cregan would constantly keep screaming like a mad animal, killing anything in it's path. Vesemir had already saw this, this was the same situation like in Bitterbridge, just more uncontrolable. Vesemir kept the story short, noticing how Cregan became increasingly more displeased as he continued to talk. In the end, the entire remaining Lannister force was slaughtered by Cregan alone. Cregan stood silent for a few more moments before falling unconciouss towards the ground.

"... and you know the rest." Vesemir quickly wrapped the story up before gently waving his hand towards Cregan. "Now it's your turn Stark, explain to me how you can slaughter anything in your wake while seemingly being invincible at the same time." Vesemir said his part, it was Cregan's explanation that came next.

Before he started to explain Cregan let out yet another long sigh as he looked towards Vesemir. "If I told you my story, I doupt you would believe me" Cregan told Vesemir.  
"I know about greendreams Stark, as well as warging, trust me, there is nothing you can say to suprise me." Vesemir's words made Cregan almost jump from suprise before realising something.

'Of course, it's Vesemir, I would be suprised if he didn't know about something.' Cregan thought to himself as he contemplated whether to tell him the truth or make up a lie.

"Alright..." Cregan sighed, "... I'll tell you..." he then started to explain what was happening to him.

"You want to know how I do the things I do, then fine..." Cregan started, releasing one last sigh before continuing. "For seven years I have been plagued with dreams. Nightmares to be more precise. At first they were nothing but just that, nightmares. Later they started to become more real, they started to actually injure me and make me weak. In terms of how I can withstand so much pain and kill so many people is because... well... I don't."

"You don't?" Vesemir raised his eyebrows at his words before Cregan continued.

"Exactly, I don't... If I continue to fight for too long then I become blood-drunk. A state of bloodlust in which I lose myself to my more bestial and feral side. Despite it being my body though, that is not me. When I become blood-drunk, my conciousness slips away, all my emotions are locked away. Any sort of feeling during my bloodlust will dissapear, that includes feeling pain. That means I can keep fighting even when I am getting injured. I keep fighting, no matter what..."

"So you basically become unkillable?" Vesemir once again interrupted Cregan with a question, seemingly being intrigued by Cregan's story.

"Not neccesarily." Cregan answered before going on with his story. "Whatever damage I acquire during a fight will be 'healed', but not really. While in my blood-drunk state my wounds are not actually healed. For example, if I were to break my arm while in my blood-drunk state, the bones in my body will be broken back into place. Or another example, if you were to stab me in one of my lungs and pull the blade out then the remaining flesh off my lungs will heal the organ that was damaged. I am basically being kept together until the fight is over or until my thirst for blood is quenched. This does not mean I cannot die though, there is a limit to how much damage I can take. But until every bone in my body is broken and the last drop of blood from my veins is spilled then my body will continue to fight."

"So you basically become god-like for a few minutes?" Vesemir continued to interrogate Cregan.

"There is a cost for this state though. Whenever I die in my dreams a part of my strength slowly slips away, that is the same situation with my blood-drunk state. Every time I use it I am becoming weaker with just my own phisical abilities. In exchange for a piece of my strength I must also sacrifice my sanity for a short time. Now you know why I have to be so distant with everyone, if I ever do go insane then I couldn't bare to have an innocent person's blood on my hands..."

The conversation continued for hours. Cregan told Vesemir of his dreams, of how he would be haunted by an ethereal figure that would constantly murder him. With every second more that Cregan continued explaining his situation, Vesemir listened intently as he observed the Stark general. Cregan mask began to crack until it was non-existant, he was starting to show emotions again.

And for some reason, Vesemir continued to listed to what anyone else would think were the ramblings of a madman...

Note:

Alright people, Chapter 43, in this chapter I finally got to answer some questions to Cregan's dreams and his literal demi-god level of why he can do all these inhuman feats. To the ones who could find it out then congratulations to those who couldn't find out by themselves then they can finally stop complaining on how nothing in this story makes sense (I know not all of you think like that but I was literally becoming sick of having to explain myself to everyone who didn't want to wait until the next chapters for me to explain it.)

Also, I hope you guys like the new cover image. I know I change it like every week or so (mainly because after some time I would find a better one) but I think this one is a keeper. Thanks to Google and some handy-dandy photoshop I finally achieved my image of how Cregan looked in his battle armor. Tell me if you guys like this new picture or if I should go back to one of my previous pictures.

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.


	45. Chapter 44: The Wars We Fight

**Chapter 44: The Wars We Fight**

Robb clenched his fist before slamming down onto the table in sheer rage. He grit his teeth and slowly crushed the letter in his other free hand.

Stannis had failed in the siege of King's Landing. Tywin's second son, Tyrion, had apparently set a trap for his fleet and lit Stannis's entire navy ablaze in an explosion of wildfire, setting the entirity of the Blackwater into a raging bay of green flames. Despite a third of his army being obliterated Stannis still marched to take the capital. A brave and courageous act, yet a foolish one in Robb's mind, although if he were in Stannis's shoes Robb would have probably done the same. Before the rowboats could even reach the shore archers were already starting to widdle away at his men.

Stannis fought bravely, Stannis fought with all his might, Stannis did all this to receive his rightfull place as The King...

Stannis is dead and the flames of his fury have died.

From what the reports said Tywin had made his way to the defense of King's Landing. By the time Stannis's army made it to the walls of The MudGate Tywin and his force were charging towards in a sweep of death as The Lannister cavalry quickly killed all of The Stormlander soldiers. Despite victory being seemingly impossible, Stannis and his army fought to the last man. Reports also stated that the last man alive was Stannis, still fighting with whatever strength left he could muster. The Stag King killed five more men with the last bit of his strength before a bolt was shot straight between his eyes, killing him.

This was not a particularely bad thing though. Sooner or later, Stannis would have gone against Robb claiming that his title of King in The North was false and demand that they bend the knee to the one true king. At least this way Robb would have one less problem to go against in the future. Despite this really did go to Robb's advantage, Tywin was now in King's Landing with his firstborn son Jaime taking on the defence of The Westerlands, this is not the way Robb wanted this to happen. Now The Baratheon lineage is practically gone, Robert is dead, Stannis is dead, Renly is dead. The only legitimate Baratheon now is Stannis's daughter, Shireen. However, Robb was not entirely displeased by this news. Having Tywin in King's Landing and Jamie now defending The Westerlands means that their march will be much quicker and easier. Tywin was both a master tactician, strategist and politician, while his second son, Tyrion, posseses his fathers wits, some would say he even surpasses Tywin's, Jamie was more a warrior than anything.

The kingsguard knight was not one for taking a tactical approach. Jamie was known to be brash when he should be patient, arrogant when he should be diligent, many of these things Robb could use in his favor. In a fight Jamie is probably the most formidable fighter there is, the only ones to ever surpass him were Ser Barristan The Bold and Ser Arthur Dayne, The Sword of The Morning. Robb was confident in his abilites in swordplay, however, he knew that in a one-on-one fight Robb would lose to The Kingslayer. If Jamie were to go up against his younger brother Cregan then The Kingslayers confidence would get him killed almost emediately, however, against Robb the Lannister had many reasons to be confident.

Despite Robb being a well-trained and skilled swordsman he was nowhere near the level of Ser Barristan or even his brother Cregan.

Robb dreaded to admit it, but perhaps Stannis failing in the siege and dying might have been the best situation. There is nothing more terrifying than a trully just man and Stannis wore justice like a badge of honor. Robb doupted even he could go against both Tywin and Stannis. Besides, what is one boy, still new to war, compared to two battle-hardened veterans who have lived through more battles than all the winters they have seen.

Stannis's death was not the reason Robb was in a rage though.

Only a few days ago did Baelon Greyjoy, Theon's own father, proclaim himself as The King of Salt and Rock or The King of The Iron Islands. In this proclamation he also declared war against The North before sending reaving parties all across the western bays of The North. Not only was this a violation of the truce he signed eleven years ago after The Greyjoy Rebellion, but it was also a betrayal towards his only living son, Theon. Despite Baelon breaking the agreement that stated if he were to ever rebel against The Seven Kingdoms again that Theon would be executed emediately. Robb knew this wasn't Theon's fault however and he didn't even try to blame it on him. Baelon was known to be a fool, believing that the ironborn were superior to anyone who wasn't from The Iron Islands. Through the centuries The Iron Islands have had a history of rebelions in many attempts to make themselves a separate kingdom, all the attempts ended in failure.

Since his father's proclamation Theon had seemed to become more distant from his friend. Robb thought it was him feeling guilty for his father's actions before later thinking that his coldness was more out of fear of what Robb would do to him. The agreement had very clear terms, if the ironborn were to ever rebel again then Theon would be executed. Despite him constantly bragging about his homeland, Theon never wanted to be a true ironborn nor did he have any wish to go back to his supposed home. In Theon's mind his family had abandoned him and left him for dead in the hands of The Starks. He never wanted to be Theon Greyjoy, he wanted to be a Stark, he wanted to be like Robb or Jon.

But Theon could never be a Stark, how could he...

 **Stark encampment, early morning, outer reaches of The Westerlands...**

Robb sat in a tent with his generals by his side. They were strategising their next move. Were they going to lay siege to The Crag, House Westerlings ancestral seat, or were they going to continue their march towards Casterly Rock. Both decisions had their own risks. To siege The Crag would mean wasting more time that could be spent going after The Lannisters, The Westerlings were an honorable and loyal house that would probably put up a decent fight, even with them being completely outnumbered and their stronghold turning from a once great fortress into a almost a pile of rubble. If The Westerlings do not emediately surrender that is precious time that Robb wastes therefore giving The Lannisters more time to regroup and be more mobilized. On the other hand if Robb and his army were to go past The Crag then they would be surrounded from both sides and would become an easy target for ambushes.

"The Crag would be our best option, the stronghold is nothing more than a barely occupied ruin." Lord Karstark proposed, taking a swig of his ale after finishing his sentence.  
"Perhaps, but what if our enemy regroups before we can take the stronghold?" Smalljon defended his notion to go straight for Casterly Rock.  
"Let the bastards come! We'll show'em the cold edge of northern steel!" Lady Maege Mormont slammed her fist on the table.  
"As much as I love the sound of that, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to say we march forward past The Crag." Greatjon agreed with his son, for some reason he was much more mild mannered than usual.

Robb continued to listen to his generals bicker amongst each other. In battle, these four worked together perfectly, but in the war room, they act like children squabbling among each other. As his generals continued to explain their points, Robb listened intently at each of their words. He sat at the front of the table, his crown rested atop his head. Robb's crown was an open circlet of hammered bronze incised with runes of the First Men, surmounted by nine black iron spikes in the shape of longswords. This was the crown that the ancient Kings of Winter wore during their reign.

'Bronze and Iron are stronger than Gold and Silver' that is what his father would always tell him, the words he took to heart as he forged a crown of iron to solidify his claim as King in The North.

"Enough!" Robb silenced all the lords as he rose up from his seat to make his decision. "We will lay siege to The Crag." Robb declared before continuing to explain his decision. "If we were to go past The Westerlings stronghold then an attempt of an ambush is certain. Lord Karstark has made a good point, The Crag is nothing more than a ruined castle. It is true that The Westerlings are fierce and fully ready to defend their home, however, we have the numbers advantage, and in war, the side with the bigger number wins, nine times out of ten.".

The lords did not like this decision, however, after Robb's explanation they did open up a bit to the decision. Smalljon was a good friend of Robb's and would respect his decisions no matter what but his father was much more resiliant to the idea but yet, Robb was his king, and a lord must obey his kings orders, no matter what.

Robb then dismissed his council as his generals all dispersed and left the tent, leaving Robb alone to wallow in his thoughts. He finally got some time alone to think all these things through, or at least he would have. The moment his generals left another person could be heard entering the tent as a figure came through the flaps of the tent. For a moment the figure wasn't recognisable but from a closer look Robb emediately recognised the person. It was Theon.

"Can we talk?" Theon asked, ignoring all titles and manners.  
"Of course..." Robb said as he pointed towards one of the chairs.

As Theon sat down to one of the chairs close to Robb he noticed that Theon's appearance was different. His eyes were baggy, his hair was messy, his skin was pale, it was obvious that Theon was stressed and couldn't sleep.

"What did you want to talk about?" Robb leaned in on the table as he raised his brow a bit to observe what Theon was going to say next.  
"..." Theon paused for a second before finally speaking, "In Riverrun... you told me I was your brother... now and always...".  
"Aye, and I meant it." Robb's words earned a faint yet noticeable smile from Theon before it dissapeared again.

"I'm not stupid Robb, I know I can never be like you. I can't be even close to the person you are..." Theon's smile appeared again, this one seemed to be filled with grief more than anything else. "I've always wanted to be a Stark, but I can't, I never could, I never will." Theon once again paused for a moment before continuing. "I know I can never be your brother, no matter how much you say I am, but I can still be your friend." Theon's words made Robb raise his brow a bit higher now, confused at what Theon was proposing.

"For years, I thought my family was going to come back for me, that they were going to save me from my captors. But now I see who my real family is, not the one who abandoned me, not the one who left me for dead, but the one who accepted me, the one who was willing to let me run, train, eat and play amongst them. Robb, please, let me go back to The North, let me defend Winterfell and your brothers..."

 **The Reach, late noon...**

Loras and Margaery spent months riding back to their home with the rest of their army. After Renly's death they didn't know what to do so they decided to back home and wait for their grandmother, Ollena, to make the decision. On the way there Loras noticed his little sister being quite distant with pretty much everyone since Renly's death. He himself is still grieving for his late king but Loras doupted that was the reason Margaery was upset. She knew of Renly's 'likings' and their marriage was more a political one more than anything else, they didn't even consumate the marriage. Despite his sister being as distant than she ever was to him Loras knew what she was upset about.

It was the final day of traveling and the Tyrell children were nearly at the gates of Highgarden. Loras didn't want to reunite with his family for the first time in about six months only to meet them with hollow eyes and grieved faces. Enough was enough so Loras decided he and his sister were going to talk it out before they get to Highgarden.

He rode his horse to the side of his sisters carriage before knocking on one of the retractable windows. From the inside Loras could hear Margaery quietly singing some song that Loras didn't know. Margaery emediately stopped singing the moment she heard the knock before reaching out to the handle of the window and opening it. His sister looked at him with her hollow yet tired eyes, it was clear that Margaery wasn't getting much sleep.

"What is it Loras?" she asked in a bored and tired tone, lazily shifting her eyes around Loras to see who was around the carriage.  
"Margaery, do you mind if we talk for a moment?" Loras asked his sister while putting on the friendliest smile he could muster on his face.  
"Yes but I doupt you are giving me a choice here..." Margaery paused for a moment before opening the doors of her carriage, "... alright come in".

With that Loras dismounted from his horse as he jumped onto the carriage as one of the Tyrell guards took Loras's milk white stallion. Inside of the carriage there wasn't much light except for the small holes of light that illuminated the small room from where Margaery was sitting. For Loras the room was a little cramp, his armor would constantly click and clang with every awkward positioning he would do to try and make himself more comfortable. Despite it being a bit claustrophobic Margaery didn't seem to mind. From where Margaery was sitting a little broch could be seen next to her, it seemed like she was preoccupying herself with whatever she could, the half-empty bottle of wine and a glass already filled with the wine on the table next to her proved that even more.

"Alright Loras, what did you want to talk about?" Margaery snapped Loras's little inspection, her tone filled to the brim with annoyance.  
"I wanted to talk about you and how you're acting." Loras turned his head towards Margaery, giving a concerned look towards his sister.  
"You know too well why I'm acting like this..." Margaery said as she took her glass of wine from the table and drunk a small sip of it.  
"Margaery... how many time do I have to tell you, he's going to be fine." Loras tried to reassure his sister, once again giving her a concerned look.

"Oh yes, I mean he's only going to war against one of the most powerfull houses in Westeros..." Margaery spoke with as much sarcasm as she could muster, that sarcasm was seeming quite sour though with the topping of annoyance still in her tone, "...oh dear brother, thank you for enlightening me".

"Margaery, he has an army by his side, he is a general in that army, his brother has been crowned a king and has not lost a single battle yet, the same thing can be said for Cregan." Loras himself was beggining to be annoyed and yet he could hide it better than Margaery, who wasn't even trying to mask it. He tried to reassure Margaery, but it seemed like she wasn't listening.

"..." Margaery sighed for a moment before placing the glass back on the table and flicking her eyes towards Loras, "... I guess your right, I don't know, maybe it's my own personal paranoia but I... I just have a bad feeling, you know?". Margaery was slowing going back to her usual self.

"So... does this mean you won't be so grumpy anymore?" Loras asked Margaery, a glitter of hope lighting up in his eyes.  
"Yes, no more grumpy Margaery, I promise." Margaery answered as she giggled a bit at her brothers childish behaviour

 **Highgarden, early afternoon...**

As Willas, Garlan and Ollena watched Loras and Margaery finally return to their homes Willas could feel a smile coming onto his face, their siblings were finally back home. "Well, shall we go and greet them?" Willas's brother Garlan asked as he started to make his way towards the front gates of Highgarden.

"Garlan has a point, we'd best not keep them waiting." Lady Ollena said as both her and Willas also made their way towards the front gates.

Already ahead of everyone, Garlan was the first to greet his younger brother the moment they entered Highgarden. The two brothers hugged each other thightly and then exchanged handshakes. The moment Garlan and Loras were finished greeting each other was when Willas, Ollena and the Tyrell childrens father, Mace Tyrell arrived towards the main gates and Margaery got out of the carriage. Ollena was the first of the three to hug Loras and welcome him back, after her was his father and Willas. Both him and Loras exchanged a much less tighter hug as Loras didn't want to accidentaly throw his crippled brother to the ground.

After Loras was Margaery, who was still having a little trouble to get used to walking with her legs, all those months in travelling with a carriage didn't help that either. Garlan and their father both hugged her tightly as Ollena welcomed her grandaughter with a warm smile and a tight embrace. Willas once again was the last to welcome their sibling back, Margaery wrapped her arms around her older brother as the two hugged each other for a few seconds.

"Brother, sister, it's good to see you two both safe and sound." Willas finally spoke with his regal and deep tone, a large difference from his stature and body.  
"I'm just glad you two are back home." Ollena added to Willas's sentence giving the two another welcoming embrace.

"By the way, I heard you two ran into Cregan, how is the bastard?" Garlan asked as a joke but his hearty smile quickly dissapeared once he saw his siblings reactions. Loras and Margaery both looked at each other before returning their gaze back to their family. Their eyes emediately turned into a sorrowfull look before Loras finally spoke up.

"That reminds me, grandmother, do you think we can speak in private?" the entire atmosphere turned serious in less than seconds. As Loras said that Margaery called for two servants who were carrying a large decorated chest, the moment Margaery layed eyes on the chest her expression darkened even more.

Willas noticed all of these things, as vigilant as ever. He looked towards the chest that the servants were carrying, the chest itself seemed heavy but the contents of the chest seemed to have been very light as the servants weren't showing any signs of struggle to carry it. "Margaery, what's in that chest?" Willas asked his younger sister as he pointed towards the chest that the servants were carrying. As Margaery looked back towards her brother she tried to muster up a smile yet her grief was clearly noticable.

"Well, don't keep us waiting child, tell us." their father Mace requested, seemingly being oblivious to what Margaery was trying to tell them.

"Father... these... these are Ned Stark's bones." Margaery pointed towards the servants and as they opened the chest everyone could see a pile of bones which were already half-turned to ash. Everyone emediately widened their eyes as a response, their suprise was apparent but the only ones who didn't react were Loras and Margaery. Willas and Ollena were the first ones to regain their composure.

"Margaery, Loras, why are these bones with you?" Willas asked with as much respect he could muster in his tone towards the deceased Ned Stark.

Before Margaery could say anything Loras took a step forward and spoke up, "Willas, we will explain everything, but right now, we have to talk in private..."

 **?'s POV**

 **Location unknown, time unknown...**

He rode atop his great elk, the black cloak flickered throughout the cold winds as his chainmail clicked and clanged. On his back he strapped his longbow and to the side of his saddle he placed his staff. The wind would make any man freeze to the bone, his breath would turn to ash and his blood stop. Yet he did not breathe, his blood did not flow. He had been dead for a long time and any feeling he once possesed had long dissapeared into the empty void of his memories. His great elk carried him atop the hill and on the horizon he saw it.

He saw the cold, bleak, empty landscape that they had left behind as only a trail of destruction followed behind them. The snow, however, would turn into ash the moment it touched him, whatever would touch him usually did that.

He and his elk continued to travel across the landscape, upon closer inspection he saw the thousands of bones slowly grow out from the snow. His elk suddenly stopped to see the lines of bones starting to slowly form into a human-like figure as it started to assume sentience. It's bones cracked and as it would try to move it's mouth a stange clicking noise eminated from it's jaws. The bones did not have the the required organs to speak or make eligable sentences and yet still, sound came from it.

 _ **"Turn... back..."**_ the bones managed to start speaking words of reason and yet the voice was still nothing human.  
 _ **"This... is... your... last... warning..."**_ it's voice mixed between silent whispers and ear-piercing screaches, nothing about it was human.

 _ **"Keso glaesot idereptot daor."**_ he spoke in an ancient language long forgotten.

When those words were uttered the bones were seemingly chrushing themselves. The mind was resisting, and yet, he was still too powerfull to lose control of it.

 _ **"Skoroso jemele broza?"**_ he once again spoke in the same language as the mind of the bone started to resist even more.

 _ **"Give... up... you... cannot... beat... us..."**_ those were the final words of the bones and after that the bones turned to ash and the human-like figure dissapeared.

 _ **'We shall see about that...'**_ he thought to himself as he pulled the reins of his elk and continued on to his destination.

He once again travelled across the lifeless wasteland that he once called home. Whatever life that may have lived here, whatever nature that they nurtured here, it was all gone now. His elk continued to stomp across the snow, although going steadily, the elk was showing signs of becoming weaker. _ **'Stay true my friend, we are almost there.'**_ he silently said to himself as he patted the elk on head and slowly started to stroke it's fur. The wind blew harder, the snow fell harder, the screams grew louder. He had to keep going, no matter what.

Across a narrow revene he saw it. He saw the heart tree of the last greenseer. As the sun shined across it's blood red leaves and the trees face kept weeping he could feel a certain warmth coming back to him, well, what he remembered warmth felt like. The scarf across his neck covered the still disolving skin that had continued to rot for over centuries and yet, a smile slowly creeped onto his face. He once again pulled the reins of his elk to continue riding on, and so he did.

The two continued to slowly make their way throughout the large snow bank the lead to the heart tree. Under the tree was a cave which it's roots lead to. In front of the cave entrance was a much friendlier face, it was Leaf. Leaf was a child of the forest, his hair made out of leaves, his skin as brown as oak wood and his fingers and eyes giving opposites to his child-like appearance. Leaf's eyes were the ones of a cat, his fingers were shaped like claws. To anyone else this looked like a monstrosity hiding behind a mask of beauty, but he saw real monstrosities, he saw beauty and horror mixed with one another, Leaf was a friendly face he would always be welcome to see.

"Welcome friend, it has been to long..." Leaf said in his usual calm yet welcoming voice as a smile appeared on his oaken skin.  
 _ **"On that we can agree on Leaf, although I wish we had meet under better circumstances."**_ his words made Leaf's smile dissapear.  
"Yes, I suspect you wish to meet with Bloodraven, do you not?" Leaf asked him but his tone made it seem that he already had the answer.  
 _ **"You are correct, can you take me to him right now?"**_ he asked only for Leaf to nod in response as he dismounted his elk and placed it inside the safety of the cave.

Into the cave they went. The stones were as cold as the raging winter outside and yet, the cave carried itself as a safe haven, a shelter from the night. He and Leaf continued to the center of the heart tree, where his old friend was resting, or what remained of his old friend.

Bloodraven sat in his throne of oak and vines, across his skin and eyes the vines were slowly working their way to consume him entirely, Bloodraven's resistance though had made the proccess much slower. Blood red petals slowly crept down onto the floor that was already filled to the brink with bones and more vines that entangled the entire room.

"So here we are... old friend..." Bloodraven spoke in his old and weak tone.  
 _ **"Yes, I carry dark news however."**_ he spoke to the old man as he took a step closer towards him.  
"Leaf has told me of his army, of how it is getting progresivelly stronger and more numerous." Bloodraven raised his concerns as he retorted.

 _ **"Brynden, I have told you my concerns so many times that I have lost count. The Night's Kings army rises in power while we sit here and do what? Wait for Brandon Stark to magically start believing in the visions you send him."**_ he spoke his concerns, using Bloodravens real name no less.

"Patience Coldhands, remember why we are here, remember our oath..." Bloodraven spoke, triggering an emediate reaction from Coldhands.

 _ **"We, are the swords in the darkness-"**_ Coldhands started.  
"- We, are the shields that guard the realms of men." Bloodraven finished.

These are the true watchers of the wall, and their oaths will not end, even after their deaths...

Note:

TUN TUN TUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN

Yep, you heard right people, probably the coolest character in the books finally appeared in the story, except another supernatural one (but we don't talk about her now do we). Alright so this is the end of the second arc and the next chapter will start the third and final arc of this story. Unlike the last end of the arc however I won't be telling the ages of the characters as they have all basically stayed the same since chapter 22.

ALSO, YES PEOPLE, STANNIS IS DEAD... DEAL WITH IT! (*put's on shades as the CSI: Miami "YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH" starts playing*).

But seriously, sorry to all you Stannis fans but do not send me hate mail and just wait until later on with the story and you will see why I have done what I've done. And now, a moment of silence for the one true king... Stannis the Mannis, may he forever live on in our memory and in all those youtube montages.

 **P.S.** In two days from the release of this chapter I will be changing the rating of this story to M (mature). Now wait a second... "Luke, you incredible sex god you, why would you do such a thing?" I hear you say. Well the main reason is that I have been reading the dream sequences and realised something 'Yeah, this is kind of too disturbing.' that's pretty much it, don't you guys expect any smutty content any time soon.


	46. Chapter 45: To Honor The Dead

**Chapter 45: To Honor The Dead**

Two days have passed since Cregan and his men succesfully defended Harrenhall from the Lannister host.

It was a bloody battle with both sides suffering heavy lose. The Lannisters took most of the damage though, what with some 40,000 men being completely obliterated. Despite it being a victory however, Cregan's army also sustained losses. In the battle 4,396 Stark, Bolton, Forrester and Mormont men were either injured or killed. Although the numbers are still not completely certain just yet, Cregan's men are still finding more and more corpses even now. The reports so far read like this...

 _3,782 killed and 614 injured._

When he first read the reports Cregan's thoughts emediately turned back to those five words a week before the battle. 'We don't want to die...' the words constantly rang in his ears with every dead corpse he saw. No matter what he would try that one sentence constantly kept haunting him. Those men didn't want to die, they didn't deserve to die, and yet they did. All of those men had names, families, lives before this, now what are they? They were just numbers on a sheet of paper.

As he continued to read through the reports of the battle Cregan had also learned that Kevan Lannister was also a part of the casualties list. From what he heard from Vesemir, Cregan had charged at him during his bloodlust and, with his bare hands, broke the man's neck, almost tearing the head of Kevan's body. Even though he hated The Lannisters with evey fiber of his being, Cregan knew that his anger towards the family was really only directed towards Cersei and Joffrey. The other Lannisters never really did him or his family any wrong.

Back at Winterfell, Tywin's second son, Tyrion, seemed to treat Cregan's brother Jon with the same respect that he and his siblings treated him with. Jamie, Tywin's firstborn son, also never really did anything wrong to them. Despite everyone calling him The Kingslayer, The Oathbreaker, The Man Without Honor, the kingsguard knight always kept away from Cregan and his siblings. Their father would tell them of how Jamie betrayed the mad king as he put a sword through his back, even in war, their father valued honor and duty above all else. Even Tywin couldn't be blamed for going to war against Robb. What was he supposed to do, let his family live in exile for the rest of their lives? Robb told Cregan of how Tywin had offered peace many times and that he and his family will be pardoned for the crimes of rebelling against the king. Tommen and Myrcella couldn't really be blamed for anything either, they were children, what kind crimes could they possibly commit. Kevan was the Lannister Cregan remembered the most though. He remembered when Kevan visited Highgarden and met with Cregan. He was a kind man, often having a soft expression with warm eyes. Despite The Starks and The Lannisters being on edge ever since Robert's Rebellion, Kevan always treated Cregan with no hint of bitterness. That is why hearing what he had done to Kevan was a heavy blow to Cregan.

Cregan woke up late in the evening, his bandages still concealing the massive amounts of scars on his body. For two days his wounds were healing slowly but surely. Today however is when Cregan finally managed to regain feeling in his arms and left leg. Despitre that however, Cregan still limped around due to the bones in his left foot being sprained. It was a slow recovery, well, a slow recovery in Cregan's case. If this were any other man the damage Cregan sustained would be unbearable, almost every bone in his body was broken but due to him being blood-drunk during the battle most of them were quickly put back together.

Seeing as he was now finally able to walk around again without falling to the ground, Cregan decided to pay a visit to Kevan and pay his last respects. As Cregan limped towards the courtyard where they had decided to burn all the corpses he saw many of his soldiers looking at him with both simpathy and terror in their eyes. They saw Cregan's feral side, the inhuman side of him, the side that brought fear into the hearts of even the bravest men. Cregan didn't blame them for fearing someone like him though, it was understandable.

The smell of burning rotten flesh filled the air, forcing the more weak-willed to get as far away from the courtyard to not throw up from disgust. Both westerners and northerners were piled up together and set ablaze.

Inside the courtyard many northern soldiers stood and watched their comrades burn, saying their last farewells before returning to their posts. Some were already accustomed to the smell, some were accustomed to the dreary and hopeless feeling that became more and more apparent with each day that Cregan and his men would spend here. They had their orders, defend Harrenhall no matter the cost, but that was becoming more difficult. Their supplies were dwindling, their men were dying, diseases were beggining to spread and morale was at an utmost low.

To the sides Qyburn was sitting next to a makeshift surgery table where the cold, dead body of Kevan Lannister was laying. Qyburn seemed to be expecting Cregan since he shoot a look at him the moment he entered the courtyard. Deciding to not keep the old man waiting Cregan limped towards Qyburn and the table next to him.

"General..." Qyburn adressed Cregan as he looked at him with his soft eyes.  
"Maester Qyburn..." Cregan quickly acknowledged Qyburn before turning his eyes towards Kevan's corpse.

Kevan's neck had a large gaping wound that almost reached across the entirity of the neck. The wound seemed to have been stiched shut and the head had been put back together. Kevan was still wearing his battle armor but most of it was covered in dry blood, pieces of armor were either missing or were dented, probably a result from the battle. On his upper left torso was a pendant that shaped into the lion of Lannister. When Cregan saw the pendant he pulled the pendant of and placed it in his pocket.

"I hope you do not mind general but I took the liberty of stiching the neck back up" Qyburn said as he walked closer to the table that held Kevan's corpse.  
"It is fine Maester Qyburn, in a few moments it won't matter anyway." Cregan said grimly, closing his eyes for a moment before flicking them back to Qyburn.  
"Of course general, shall we procced with the burning then." the ex-maester asked Cregan, placing one hand on the table as he spoke.  
"Yes, carry on..." with that Qyburn only nodded as two Bolton men took Kevan's corpse and started dragging towards the pyre with the rest of the bodies.

As the bodies continued to only pile on and burn, Cregan watched it all from the distance. He stared at how the flames danced around the thousands upon thousands of corpses, seemingly mocking him as he was reminded of how he failed to save his men. 'We don't want to die...' those words refused to leave his mind. Why? It was true they didn't want to die but they were still willing to give their lives away. So then why was he still being haunted by those words?

Cregan continued to watch the massive amounts of bodies burn when he suddenly felt a tug on his leg. Cregan looked down to see his wolf Sif looking at him with sad eyes. He knelt down to gently stroke the fur on Sif's head. As he patted the wolf on the head Sif nuzzled closer to his master, sharing in Cregan's displeasure of the dozen burning piles of corpses. Sif continued to look at the pyre until turning back to Cregan and whimpering as if to say something.

"Don't worry Sif, I'm not going to join that pyre..." he reassured his companion as Cregan continued to pat the wolf on the head.

'Not yet anyway...' Cregan wanted to speak those words as well but he was to afraid of Sif's reaction to actually speak them out.

The two once again stared at the pyre before Cregan noticed something. He flicked his eyes towards the stone walls that surrounded the courtyard. The walls were segmented by stone towers and at the top of one of the towers was Vesemir, Rodrick, Tarkus, Lily and Edwyn. Vesemir, Edwyn and Tarkus were leaning on the battlements of the tower, watching the fire dance across the bodies while Rodrick and Lily were sitting at the edges of the battlements and also watched the flames. All of them had expressions of grief, even Vesemir didn't have a hint of his famous cockyness in his face.

Both Cregan and Vesemir had not talked ever since Cregan told him of his nightmares and bloodlust. However, despite the two promising there to be no more secrets between each other, that didn't mean others could know about this. Vesemir was now the only other person to know of Cregan's nightmares, and he kept silent. For what reason? That, even Cregan couldn't figure out.

 **Vesemir's POV**

A cold breeze flowed across the wind, sending a shiver to everyone's bones. The sun had just set and the moon was already illuminating the night sky. The stars shined like burning beacons of light that accompanied the moon. From the top of the tower, the flames from down below seemed to almost be slowly fading. The sheer amount of corpses were already muffling the fire.

Vesemir continued to stare down onto the courtyard.

He saw the soldiers lining up to honor their falled comrades and give them their last goodbyes. From the back, Vesemir could see Cregan crouching next to his wolf as he too stared at the burning pyre of corpses. Ever since the Stark boy told him of his nightmares Vesemir's respect for the boy had grown immensily. To be fighting against an unstopable force for more than seven years. The story seemed to almost be like from the Age of Heroes. The immovable object faces off against the unstopable force in an almost decade long battle for supremacy.

Vesemir then turned his gaze back towards his own companions. Like him, they all had stern faces on, a method to hide their grief.

Tarkus rarely took off his armor and that also meant him not taking of his helm. Through the metal however, Vesemir saw Tarkus silently honoring his fellow brothers-in-arms. Tarkus was from The Iron Islands and grew up to become a reaver. Despite that however, Tarkus was more of a gentle giant than anything. A iron-claded, cleaver-wielding, destruction-bringing giant, but a gentle one no less. Tarkus never liked the ironborn tradition, he never liked taking whatever he wanted, he never liked taking women from their homes and claiming them as saltwives, he never liked taking prisoners and naming them thralls, basically making them slaves. When Vesemir saved his life in The Greyjoy Rebellion then he vowed to become a better person than what he was forced to become.

Edwyn was never the most likeable person at first. On first glance he is an annoying, winning craven who only cares for himself. Edwyn is a liar, a thief, a craven and a general pain in the ass, he is also Tarkus's best friend. The two did not like each other much at first but when they started to talk to each other they became fast friends. Edwyn managed to hide his grief a little better than the others but Vesemir could still notice him being distraught. Ever since Edwyn could remember all he really wanted to do was help people. He didn't want to become a maester and be restricted to only serving one noble house. Instead, he travelled Westeros, gathering as much knowledge as he could and helping anyone he could along the way, usually by healing a wound or two.

Rodrick was usually the best at concealling his true emotions, but a sight like this could make even the sternest men shead a tear for their comrades. Even when Vesemir had first met the boy and saved him and his sister from bandits, Rodrick had always been a shy and timid boy. Vesemir taught him everything he knew in swordplay and soon, he turned a simple farming boy into his apprentice. Rodrick quickly grasped all the techniques of swordfighting, with Vesemir as his tutor he also quickly turned into one of the most formidable fighters in Westeros. Rodrick was a man of few words, rarely talking to anyone else but Vesemir, Lily, Tarkus or Edwyn. In many respects, Rodrick was much like Cregan in personality, but in Rodrick's case, him distancing himself from everyone was more a result of his shy attitude more than anything.

"All of you should go and get some rest. We'll all met back up here tommorow morning, I want to talk to you all about something." Vesemir broke the silence in the group. To his words everyone only nodded and started to leave, everyone except Lily, who only continued to sit at the edge of the battlements and watched as the bodies burn.

"Lily, what's wrong?" Vesemir noticed the girl and walked up beside her before asking.  
"..." Lily continued to stare at the flames in silence, not even paying Vesemir any attention.  
"Lilly, come on, you know you can tell me anything, right?" Vesemir once again tried to get an answer from Lily.  
"..." Lily once again payed no mind to Vesemir as she sat in silence.

Vesemir became increasingly more worried for the girl. Being as stubborn and relentless as he is, Vesemir then sat down next to Lily and tried to make her respond to him. "Lily, come on, your making me worry." Vesemir continued to pry more and more until he heard Lily let out a sigh.

"We won, why are people dead?" Lily sighed, finally giving into the pressure.

To her question, Vesemir's eyes widened. Lily never liked violence, she never liked anything to do with hurting people. Everyone of Vesemir's companions saw him as a mentor, everyone except for Lily. The girl was only four years old when bandits razed her village and killed both her and Rodrick's parents. Lily needed some sort of father-figure, and she saw it in Vesemir. Often coming to him for advice, trusting him with her secrets, going to him whenever she needed help. Vesemir was more than ready to help her, with whatever she needed, at anytime. Lily never wanted to be the girl she is now, she doesn't want to kill people, she isn't a murderer. Someone like that cannot survive in a world that is built by killlers. The world shaped her into what she had now become, a cold-blooded marksman who never misses her shot. Even with that though, Lily still kept her gentle side, and Vesemir loved her for that side. She reminded him so much of Anna.

"Listen to me Leliana, this is how wars work. Sooner or later we all have to dance with The Stranger, some do so sooner than later." Vesemir spoke to Lily, reffering to her by her full name.  
"I don't want you to join that pyre" Lily whimpered as she leaned on Vesemir who wrapped his arm around the girl.  
"Don't worry sweetie, I won't be tangling with The Stranger anytime soon." Vesemir let out a soft chuckle as he tightened the hug on the girl.  
"Promise?" Lily asked him.  
"I promise, I'll be living till I'm a hundred and four years old." Vesemir once again let out a chuckle as the two sat in silence for a few more moments.

"Now come on, it's late, you should go and get some rest"

Note:

Sorry if this chapter was a bit more boring for you guys but I wrote this chapter to show the passage of time as the whole next chapter will be focusing on Robb and his side of the story.

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.


	47. Chapter 46: Dark Wings, Dark Words

**Chapter 46: Dark Wings, Dark Words**

 **The Westerlands, The Crag, Early Morning...**

 _'Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!'_ Robb emediately kept screaming at himself. Pounding on his head as well as cursing himself to why he had done the thing he had done.

Two weeks ago, Robb made a decision to siege The Crag, hoping that because of it's sorry state and less than favorable numbers that the Westerlings would have surrendered. That was not what happened though. The Westerlings were a family that descended from the blood of The First Men, one of the very few families that weren't from the North with such descent. Unlike most of The Westerlands houses The Westerlings were known to be an honourable and just family, however, they were also not the wealthiest family. Robb had hoped The Westerlings would have surrendered their keep but their reputation held true and thus, they held The Crag for as long as they could.

Despite their brave efforts however, Robb's army quickly crushed any resistance, even if The Westerlings fought to the bitter end.

During the siege however, Robb got shot with an arrow near his lower left torso, wounding him for the rest of the siege and making him not be able to fight in the battle. But even with Robb being wounded and The Westerlings putting up a good fight, The Crag eventually fell to the Northern army. Now all they needed to do was keep marching on The Westerlands, but there was one problem, Robb was wounded and there was no maester in his army to treat his wounds. Deciding to not risk the wound getting infected, they all stopped to rest in The Crag with Robb resting in the guest room to not have his wound turn worse.

The pain was bad. Robb knew how wounds would often feel like a burning hole if they were not treated correctly or in time. Robb had his fair share of wound before but most of them were cuts, scrapes or bruises, they were never as serious as an arrow wound that actually got through his flesh.

Thankfully, Lord Gawen Westerling's eldest daughter, Jeyne, knew a thing or two about mending wounds and so she treated Robb for his stay in The Crag.

Jeyne was the younger sister to Raynald, a man almost as honorable and just as Robb's own father with a seemingly unyielding loyalty to his family. Jeyne herself was a quiet and shy girl, she doesn't talk much and while she was mending Robb's wounds he could see her cheeks constantly going red from embarasment. Jeyne might not have been the most beautiful girl but she was still pretty in her own way. She had a slender figure, long, chestnut brown curls, a heart-shaped face and brown eyes that matched her hair.

During his stay at The Crag however, Robb received grim news.

His brother Cregan had 'taken care of' lord Roose Bolton who was commiting treason against him by sending report to Tywin Lannister. Despite him leaving out the details however, Robb dreaded to think what Lord Bolton had gone through with Cregan's punishment but one thing was sure, not many people would want revenge for the leech lord. There was one person though, probably the only person who cared about Roose, his bastard son Ramsay. The bastard of Bolton didn't take his fathers death all to well and now he demands his fathers bones be returned to their rightful place in The Dreadfort. Robb of course ignored these demands, they were the ramblings of a sadist as well as an unlegitimised bastard. But then something unexpected happened. Ramsay took what little men he had, a small group of around a hundred men and seized Winterfell, taking Bran and Rickon hostage.

If the bastard couldn't get his fathers bones the normal way, he would have to take it The Bolton way. If Robb didn't return Roose's remains to Ramsay then the bastard said he would flay both Bran and Rickon alive, along with the entirity of Winterfell. Not only were Bran and Rickon there, but other lords of The North were there. Lords Howland Reed and Wyman Manderly who were in Winterfell at the time were also captured along with all the household guards, Ser Rodrick Cassel and Maester Luwin.

Robb, for the first time since he became king, didn't know what to do. If he abandoned his march on The Westerlands then The Lannisters would just take away all the progress he had made in the war. If he sent Cregan back to The North then they would lose Harrenhall quickly and thus, lose a valuable vantage point in the defense of The Riverlands. Every single part of his morals told Robb to go back and save his little brothers, but the smart side of him was relying on Bran and Rickon's final hope, Theon.

Robb accepted Theon's request. He sent him back to The North with a small force of 500 men due to The North still having a substantial force to defend it. Along with him went Smalljon Umber with his own garrison of also 500 men. Together they counted at around a 1000 men with both Theon and Smalljon leading them. Robb prayed to all the gods he knew for Smalljon and Theon to succeed in their rescue mission. A thousand armed and trained men against around a hundred barely trained cuthroats wasn't really a situation that Robb feared of losing, but Ramsay was known to be a trickster and a cunning fighter. The bastard will probably try something to save himself, Robb could only hope that Theon and Smalljon were smart enough to not fall for his tricks.

Every man encounters a difficult choice in their lives. Ever since Robb became king those difficult choices just kept pilling on and pilling on. With every other day Robb spent as king he could feel his stress just building up. The war, his generals constantly bickering at every turn whenever they weren't fighting in a battle and his own little brothers, held captive by a madman who takes pleasure in flaying anyone he wishes.

For just one moment Robb wanted to take all the responsibility away from his shoulders, he wanted to have a sincere smile, he wanted to go back to the times where he would just be in Winterfell, training Bran in archery, playing with Arya and Rickon, have Cregan constantly beat him to the dirt every time they spar. He didn't want to be King Robb anymore, he just wanted to be Robb again.

 _'Stupid...'_ Robb once again thought to himself.

Robb's emotions got the better of him. He wanted to feel human again and that meant losing all of his sense of honor and his morals for a night. While she was tending to Robb's wounds again, Jeyne also comforted him. When he needed someone the most Jeyne was there for him. She held him, she told him everything was going to be alright, she kissed him. One thing led to another, and eventually the two shared a bed for the night. Robb slept with Jeyne and thus, he took her maidenhead.

By doing this, he had wronged, he had dishonored her, and yet the most painful thing was that Robb knew what he was doing, but he still did it anyways.

House Westerling was the rich and powerful house that they once were. The only hope for minor noble houses to gain any sort of power was through marriage. Lord Gawen Westerling, Jeyne's father, had to marry the eldest daughter of a rich merchant family, The Spycers, just to keep his house from destroying itself. If they were lucky, Jeyne and Eleyna, her younger sister, could have been married to other lords or heirs of more wealthy houses, ensuring them a better life. Robb took that away from Jeyne. Now Jeyne was no longer a virgin and thus will be less wanted as a wife, Gods forbid Robb actually impregnated her. Robb knew how bastards were treated in other houses, not all of them were as lucky as Jon who had a caring father and loving siblings. The Westerlings were a southern house, not belonging to neither the North or the Riverlands, if Jeyne did give birth to Robb's child Tywin would kill both her and the child in an instant.

When Robb first woke up it was early in the morning with the sun just coming up on the horizon when his eyes opened. For a second, Robb tried to move out of the bed but was stopped by a pair of arms holding him tightly. He slightly turned his head to see Jeyne, sleeping peacefully with her arms wrapped around Robb. Both of them were completely naked with the only concealment they had being the covers of the bed. When Robb looked towards Jeyne he felt a slight smile tugging on his face, she looked so peaceful, without a care in the world.

 _'I stormed your castle, I killed your men and I basically took your family hostage. Yet you repayed me by healing my wounds, offering me comfort... and stealing my heart...'_

That is when Robb realised what he had to do.

 _'I will make this right, I won't let anything happen to you or your family...'_

 **Vesemir's POV**

 **Harrenhall, Center Stronghold, Noon...**

The news of Bran and Rickon's capture by the hands of Ramsay Snow had quickly reached Harrenhall. No one knew how Cregan would react to this news, would he be cold and calculated, quickly making a plan to save his brothers, or would he be lead by fierce instincts and emediately go to Winterfell to help his brothers. Their general's actual reaction... was very unexpected...

"I WILL FUCKING TEAR THOSE BASTARDS APART WITH MY OWN BARE HANDS!" Cregan's roars could be heard traveling all across Harrenhall.

The moment he received the letter, Cregan went into a blind rage, breaking anything, or anyone, close to him. Wanting not to harm any of his men in his rage Cregan locked himself in his room where he would vent his anger by himself. This, however, didn't stop Vesemir from trying to go in and talk to Cregan. Vesemir had already been observing Cregan carefully to see if he would actually try to harm him were he to enter the room, after an hour of observation Vesemir entered the room. When he opened the doors to the room Vesemir saw Cregan pacing around the room, yelling profanities and kicking whatever furniture found their way to him.

"Stark, are you okay?" Vesemir asked carefully, trying not to trigger Cregan in any way.

To his question Cregan only looked at him with a completely hateful expression. Every line in his face showed complete anger and hatred, he was clenching his fists, he was gritting his teeth, his eyes burned red with complete hatred. Before Vesemir could utter another word Cregan once again shouted.

"NO VESEMIR! I AM NOT FUCKING OKAY!" Cregan yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Now now, you j-" before Vesemir could continue speaking Cregan threw a chair that flew straight towards him. Luckily, Vesemir's reflexes were still as sharp as ever so he easily dodged the wooden chair. "Seven Hells!" Vesemir spouted as the chair hit the wall behind Vesemir, the moment the chair hit the wall the impact was enough to break the chair completely into nothing but splinters.  
"Alright, you're clearly angry..." Vesemir once again tried to reason with Cregan as he turned to him once again, "... you just have to breath in and e-".

Once again, Cregan threw another chair towards Vesemir. This time Vesemir ducked to avoid the chair and, just like the last chair, it turned into nothing but splinters the moment it hit the wall. With every other second that passed Cregan was getting noticably angrier and angrier. It was clear that soft words weren't going to do anything, so Vesemir decided to be more stern in his voice.

"Will you just please just let me utter a fucking sentence?!" Vesemir was now also yelling but the moment he did something worse happened.

Cregan was now teeming to the brink with anger. Without even thinking or even using an ounce of strength, Cregan lifted a table and threw it towards Vesemir. Now with a table flying directly towards him, Vesemir quickly accepted defeat and rand towards the exit of the room. The moment he got out of Cregan's room and shut the door Vesemir could feel the table hitting the door with full impact and from the sounds, the table was now nothing but a pile of wood and splinters. The sheer impact of the table hitting the door was enough to break it down, the only reason it didn't was because Vesemir had to use every ounce of strength to just keep it from breaking down.

"I take it the general is not taking the news well?" Vesemir heard a voice coming from his right.

When he turned his head right Vesemir saw both Rodrik Forrester and Dacey Mormont walking towards him. Vesemir was still leaning on the door with both of his arms spread out across the door to keep it from breaking down. Cregan only continued to yell, scream and roar inside the room. While the roars continued Vesemir couldn't help but feel bad for any remaining furniture that were unlucky enough to be caught in Cregan's way.

"No Forrester, he is taking this just marvelously!" Vesemir gave out a witty retort towards Rodrik, still trying to keep the door from falling down on him.  
"It can't be that bad can it?" Dacey asked, being slightly unaware of the sight that was in Cregan's room.  
"No that bad is it?!" Vesemir once again gave out a witty retort before opening the door for a second.

The moment Vesemir opened the door a large piece of furniture came flying towards them and it would have hit Rodrik and Dacey if Vesemir had not had cat-like reflexes and shut the door faster than he opened it.

"That's _'not that bad'_ to you Mormont?!" Vesemir yelled out to the girl, once again pushing the door back into place.

"Well, he is obviously beyond reasoning, best to just leave him to vent his rage." Rodrik said as he and Dacey started to leave as quickly as they could.  
"Oh no, you two are not leaving me here to keep this door from breaking down!" Vesemir yelled out in an attempt to stop them from leaving.

For Dacey it seemed to have worked. For a moment she stopped and looked back at Vesemir, "He could need the help..." she whispered to Rodrik. To Vesemir's unluckyness however, Rodrik only grabbed Dacey and forced her forward, "Just keep walking..." Rodrik whispered hastily as both he and Dacey walked away from Cregan's room.

As he watched Rodrik and Dacey walk away from him Vesemir only sighed as he managed to lock the door, making his job a bit easier.

"Something tells me I won't be getting much sleep tonight..."

 **Note:**

 **I'm finally back bitches!**

 **Yeah, sorry guys for the lack of updates on this story, I know I haven't uploaded in like a week but the main reason was... well, technical difficulties (writer's block/laziness).**

 **However! I bring good news!**

 **Starting as of today I will be switching from this story to my new story, A Worthy King in updates. My plan is to update one chapter for one story, then the next chapter for the other story. So if you guys haven't seen it yet then I hope you do because the next update will be on that story so the new chapter for this story will probably be in 3 or 4 days depending on how I feel.**

 **As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.**


	48. Chapter 47: The Tower of Joy

**Chapter 47: The Tower of Joy**

 **Red skies...**  
 **Bloody river...**  
 **Screaming children...**  
 **The howl of wolves...**

Cregan stood atop a dry cliff. In front of him, a stone tower in a circular pattern. Down on the bottom of the tower was a small stable where three horses were tied to a pole. Screams of a woman filled the air, from what Cregan could tell, they were all coming from the top of the tower. The top had one door that lead to a balcony with stone railing sorrounding it's entirity. Around the door were two windows and from them, thousands of blue petals flew to the outside, the wind carrying it all the way until the clouds blocked them from sight.

While the screams were the main thing that occupied Cregan's hearing, the battle that raged on from beneath the tower occupied Cregan's sight.

Beneath the tower was a fierce battle between four knights, three clad in silver armor and white cloaks while the fourth wore black plate armor with a red cloak. From what Cregan could make out, the three in the silver armor were kingsguard knights, hence their white cloaks. However, these knights wore silver armor with the insignia of House Targaryen on their breastplates. One wore a helmet in the shape of a bulls head, the other had a sword that eminated the light of the moon from it, somewhat like Cregan's own sword, Frostbite, and the third knight wore chainmail unlike the others who wore plate armor with the insignia of a bat on it's helmet. When Cregan observed all of the kingsguard knights, he finally realised who they were, Ser Gerold 'The White Bull' Hightower, Ser Arthur 'The Sword of The Morning' Dayne, and Ser Oswell Whent. All of these knights were part of the previous kingsguard, they are all supposed to be dead. And yet there they were, fighting against several men in what seems to be Northern armor.

However, there was one knight Cregan was more interested. By now Cregan remembered he was supposed to be in Harrenhall and this only meant he was in a dream. Cregan knew the story of how his father went to a place called The Tower of Joy, with him also came his allies as well as a close friend, Howland Reed. He had heard the story so many times that every single detail was basically imprinted in his brain. But there was one thing that stuck out, the knight that was clad in black armor and wore a red cloak. His colors resembled the colors of House Targaryen yet he could not recognise him due to his face being covered up by a helmet. The black knights sword however, was the thing that caught Cregan's eyes the most.

The blade was a longsword with a black handle. The hilt and pommel were decorated by blue jewels while the blade itself had a ruby red color. Even from where he was, Cregan felt the same warmth he recognised from his shortsword Demonsteel... and Vesemir's longsword.

That is when Cregan realised what blade that was, that was FlameSinger. It could have been an asumption, but the resemblence was too close for it to be a coincedence. But if FlameSinger was being used by the black knight then that would mean only one thing...

 **"Deep in thought?"** a voice came from behind Cregan.

The moment he heard the voice Cregan spun his head around to see the armored man in his usual attire. He wore plate armor with white furs surrounding his shoulders and a helmet completely concealing his face. From behind the armored man was a barrage of a winter storm, the complete opposite to the tower's warm climate. The armored man walked up to Cregan, now standing beside him on the hilltop to also observe the battle. It was a bloody and brutal fight, the four knights however seemed to be winning with three of the ten Northern men already dead.

"It's been a while... where have you been?" Cregan said, returning his quick expression of suprise back into the neutral and stoic face that he usually wore.  
 **"I have been preoccupied with my own duties."** The armored man gave out his excuse and to it Cregan only scoffed as he looked away.  
"And you expect me to believe that, after what you did in Harrenhall?" Cregan looked back at the man as he narrowed his eyes towards him.  
 **"Yes, and, I'm sorry for taking control back there, but to your credit you gave me a struggle."** The armored man said, also turning his head to Cregan.

"Fine... let's just drop this for now." Cregan sighed, flicking his eyes away for a moment before returning them back to the armored man, "But in the future, don't ever try that again, understood?".  
 **"Very well, I won't try to take control again without your consent, I promise."** The armored man said before he turned his head back towards the battle that was still raging on.  
"So what is this, a dream, a nightmare, or a vision?" Cregan said, still keeping his tone from expressing anything.

 **"You will see in due time, but right now, you should probably be focusing more on what is happening down there..."**

As he said that, the armored man dissapeared in a puff of smoke, leaving nothing behind and once again leaving Cregan alone atop the cliff. Listening to the man's advice, Cregan looked back down on the fight and saw what was happening.

All of the kingsguard knights were dead. Ser Gerold had his head cut off and that head was currently rolling on the ground, accompanied by a pool of blood leaking from where his should be. Ser Oswell Whent was completely covered in arrows, one was lodged into his eye and stuck out the back of his skull, about four or five of them covered his body where most of his armors weak points were located, and the final two arrows were lodged in Ser Oswell's neck. Ser Arthur Dayne received the least brutal death, his armor was only beaten with a large hole in the breastplate, he had clearly been stabbed by something but due to the size of the wound it could have only been the sword Cregan's father used, Ice.

The only knight that was left standing was the one that was clad in black armor and wore a red cloak. There was one difference though, the knight didn't have a helmet anymore so Cregan could finally see his face. The knight seemed to be in his late twenties to early thirties with short hair and a beard that covered his entire jaw. The man's hair was mostly black with silver strands taking up most of his sideburns. The black knight was covered in bruises and scratches as well as sweating profusely while leaning on FlameSinger. The knight stood amidst the corpses of his fallen comrades, still fighting against the four surviving northerners. From the look on the knights face he didn't seem to have any intention of surrendering, but then again, the Northerners didn't have any intention of giving up either.

Of the surviving Northerners Cregan could recognise only two of them, Eddard, his father, and Lord Howland Reed.

"It's over, Ser, give up, there is no hope for you to win this fight!" Cregan could hear his father yell out towards the black knight.  
"Hmph..." the knight gave out a small smirk, "... you think I'll give up so easily?".  
"Just give up you fool, we have you outnumbered!" at closer inspection, Cregan could see the now deceased Lord Dustin yelling out to the knight.  
"Sorry... but I don't intend on just falling down and letting you four kill me." the black knight said, still retaining his smirk.

It was strange, but Cregan could somewhat recognise the voice coming from the black knight. He could not instantly pinpoint who it was, but still, Cregan could recognise it.

"We will not kill you Ser." Eddard said, lowering his sword and taking a step forward towards the black knight. "Your king is dead, your prince is dead. The king was murdered by Ser Jamie of The Kingsguard the moment Lord Tywin's forces entered King's Landing." Eddard continued to try and persuade the black knight. "Prince Rhaegar was killed by Robert at The Trident and Vyserys and his mother have fled to Dragonstone.".

At the mention of the king's death, the knight seemed to be suprised with perhaps a hint of glee at the news. But then came the news of the princes death, and the knight's expression emediately darkened.

"I always thought I would relish in that insane degenerate's death..." the knight said darkly, leading all of the Northern men to look at him in suprise, "... but I never wanted it to cost Rhaegar's life as well."  
"Ser, I beg you, surrender, and end this bloodshed now, I promise you that Robert will show you mercy." Eddard once again tried to persuade the knight, taking another step forward.

With that step, the knight lazily lifted his sword towards Cregan's father and pointed it towards him. "I made a promise to Rhaegar..." he said, the knight's expression shifting from it's cocky and unserious attitude into a dark and hopeless face, his now hollow eyes looking directly at Eddard, "... that I would stand my ground, and defend Lyanna, no matter the cost, even from you Stark.".

To those words, everyone seemed confused, even Cregan. Eddard was Lyanna's brother, why would she need protecting from him?

"Alright that's enough!" Lord Dustin said angrily and clearly annoyed as he charged towards the black knight with the other northern soldier going with him.

Eddard tried to stop them, but it was too late. Before anyone could even react, the two northerners were in the air. When they charged at him, the black knight swept them from the ground with FlameSinger, cutting their legs off in the proccess, before he cut the head of both Lord Dustin and the other northern soldier. During all of this, the knight didn't even show a hint of regret or struggle as he viciously killed two armored men, still keeping to his dark expression. After killing them, with their blood still dripping off of FlameSinger, the knight pointed his sword back to Eddard and Howland Reed.

It seemed like the black knight was going to charge at Eddard and Howland now. But then all of them heard something.

An ear-grading scream came from the tower. "EDDARD!" was one of the words that were heard in the middle of the scream, the thing that caught Cregan's attention however was when he realised it was a woman's voice. When Cregan looked up towards where the scream was coming from he saw the once blue petals being replaced by blood red petals, resembling those of a heart tree.

"Lyanna!" Eddard yelled out, ignoring the black knight for a moment before turning back to him.  
"Looks like your sister wants to see you Stark... go ahead, I don't really care about stopping you anymore." the knight said, his tone being as dark and expresionless as ever.

To the knights words Eddard only looked at him for a few seconds before nodding and running past him and into the tower. Howland tried to follow his friend but when he got to where the black knight was the knight only pointed FlameSinger towards Howland, making him take a few steps back. "Only the Stark can pass, you stay here frog-boy..." the knight said, now blocking Howlands path to the tower.

Cregan wanted to go into the tower with his father, he wanted to, but when he tried to take a step forward, suddenly, darkness started to engulf everything. The tower turned into nothing but a pile of rubble, the corpses were engulfed in flames and the three still living people were quickly turned to nothing but ash. Cregan himself also started to be engulfed by the darkness that quickly swallowed the entire field, swallowing him into the empty void of nothingness that Cregan knew so well. The light of the sun had gone out, the flames faded, the ash flew away, the rubble dissapeared...

Nothing but darkness, nothing but screams and blood red petals, slowly flying throughout the void...

 **Note:**

 **Sorry that this is a bit of a shorter chapter but I didn't want to leave you guys hanging for too long waiting for the next chapter. School has been an absolute bitch to me and with the end of the semester coming up I have been preoccupied with studying for the final enough with the excuses, here is the chapter, hope you guys enjoy it. I don't know if I have been subtle with who the black knight was, I'm usually not that good with mysteries because I mostly give away to much and make the solution far to obvious, but with one mystery solved come ten more in this story. I just hope you guys are able to keep track of everything ;)**

 **As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.**


	49. Chapter 48: A Choice With No Regrets

**Chapter 48: A Choice With No Regrets**

Cregan's headache caused him immense pain, adding it to his already unbearable suffering. From what little he could remember Cregan heard the news of Bran and Rickons capture by Ramsay Snow, Roose Bolton's bastard. Hearing the news Cregan went into a blind rage, breaking anything or anyone in his path. In truth, this was his bloodlust acting up again. In a desperate attempt to not kill any of his own men during the bloodlust Cregan used what little control he had left to lock himself in his room. Thankfully, he had much better control over this state because he hadn't killed anyone recently.

After he locked himself in his room his vision became blurred and his legs and arms became numb. Everything was a blur so waking up to a completely demolished room with destroyed furniture, splinters and holes in the walls was confusing, but not suprising to Cregan.

His rage might not have been justified, but the news of his little brothers being held hostage by that sadist made Cregan lose control. What was worse is that this was all his fault. Cregan was the one who killed Roose Bolton, not thinking about the consequences. 'The bastard wouldn't even try something like that...' the thought ran through his mind while torturing The Leech Lord. But every choice had consequences, and Cregan was a fool to think that he was above consequences. He already felt the pain of losing his father, Cregan didn't want to lose Bran and Rickon to.

If he did... then he might completely lose control over his conciusness.

The morning had come and Cregan woke up, sitting in a chair with nothing but pants and a tunic on. To the side of the room near the destroyed bed were Frostbite and Demonsteel, leaning on the stone wall. From all the furniture only the chair Cregan was both sitting and sleeping on and a small table were the only pieces of furniture that weren't destroyed.

When he tried to get up from the chair Cregan once again felt a pain in his head as he felt something warm trickling down from his nose and down onto his lips. Reaching out his hand to see what it is, even though Cregan already knew what it was, he touched the warm liquid with his fingers and confirmed his suspicions. Blood was slowly flowing down his fingers. Seeing the blood made Cregan's head pound even more as his vision once again became blurred.

 _"No... not again..."_ Cregan murmured to himself as he grabbed his head with one hand and used his other hand to wipe the blood off his nose. He would have lost his conciousness were it not for the loud knocking sound coming from the door.

"Come in..." Cregan said, the sound disrupting his momentary loss of conciousness.

To Cregan's words the door only slightly opened. "You sure?" a voice came from the back of the door. "You're not going to throw any more furniture at me?" hearing it for the second time Cregan finally recognised who it was behind the door. It was Vesemir.

"Vesemir just get the fuck in here." Cregan said, making his rising annoyance known.

With that Vesemir finally opened the door completely and entered the room. The old man's eyes were baggy and his expression made Cregan realise that Vesemir probably didn't sleep all night, why however, Cregan couldn't figure out. Stepping into the room, Vesemir still held one hand on the knob of the door, and the other on FlameSinger. Vesemir seemed to be a bit too precaucious about everything and this made Cregan overly-confused. Despite not wanting to admit it, Cregan did consider Vesemir trustworthy as well as thinking of him as a friend. He hoped Vesemir thought the same about him.

 _From now on, there are no more secrets between us..._

Cregan remembered their promise, and he held true to it. He told everything to Vesemir, and so far the old man hadn't said anything about it to anyone else. And from what Cregan could tell, Vesemir had been nothing but truthful to him ever since they met in Bitterbridge. The only thing Vesemir wasn't truthful about was how he got his longsword FlameSinger. This wasn't a problem to Cregan however, FlameSinger couldn't slaughter thousands by itself, Cregan could. That is why he let that fact slide from their agreement.

"So I'm guessing you've passed your little temper tantrum?" Vesemir snapped Cregan from his thoughts, now being closer to the table and farer from the door but still holding onto FlameSinger.  
"Yes, I am." Cregan responded, "I guess you were the one I was throwing things at all night, weren't you?" he turned his head towards Vesemir and looked him straight in the eye.  
"No fucking shit General Stark." Vesemir gave out a witty retort, reffering to Cregan by the nickname he gave him.

"Oh... well, can you please take a seat first?" Cregan said in his usual monotone voice, a direct opposite to Vesemir's voice of pure spite. However, there was something different in Cregan't tone now. It was much more somber, a quick change from his tone of annoyance just a mere few moments ago. Cregan's face also carried an almost defeated expression.

"What seats?! There are no more chairs to sit on! You destroyed them all!" Vesemir yelled out, once again letting his annoyance and tiredness be known.  
"Oh... here then, take my chair..." Cregan said in a somber and mellow tone as he got up from his seat and started slowly walking to a flask of water on the floor.

Even Cregan's walk was expressing grief, sadness, and defeat. Everything about him wasn't showing any life in him, nothing at all. To Cregan's supposed gesture of kindness Vesemir raised his brow, still suspicious. After a few moments of staring at Cregan however Vesemir gave in, letting out a sigh before sitting down on the chair. From the expression of relief on Vesemir's face Cregan could tell this was the first time in probably a few hours that Vesemir was able to rest his legs. Vesemir was an amazing warrior who even Cregan couldn't beat in an honest and fair fight, but his age did still encumber him to a point.

After picking up the flask of water, uncogging it and taking a large swig, Cregan turned to Vesemir with his tired and hollow eyes. Vesemir did the same, his eyes however were still filled with energy and that famous enthusiasm of his. Of all the things Cregan hated about that wretched old man, it was his seemingly endless amount of determination and a drive to keep on fighting, no matter what. Then again, those were the traits that made Cregan like him so much, Vesemir and his companions were basically sellswords and Cregan expected them to have the loyalty of sellswords, but too many times did both he and his companions prove him wrong.

"Right... now that I have the chance to say this..." Cregan stopped himself mid-sentence by clearing his throat before continuing, "Sorry for... uh... you know... throwing a table at you...".

"And the chairs"  
"Yes and the chairs..."  
"And all the silverware, cups, plates and flagons"  
"Yes and that..."  
"The bed didn't really survive either"  
"Right, forgot about the bed..."  
"And I'm seeing a lot of holes in these walls"  
"How did I even do that..."  
"The balcony doesn't even have railings anymore"  
"Wait, that was me..."

Vesemir just kept adding on and on the count of things Cregan destroyed. His mellow and somber expression was slowly fading and was once again going back to his face of annoyance. With every new addon Cregan was struggling more and more to keep his face constant, untill finally, it was gone completely.

"And-" before Vesemir could utter another word he was cut off by Cregan mid-sentence.  
"Vesemir just accept the damn apology!" Cregan yelled out, finally unventing his rage.

For a few moments, Vesemir almost seemed startled by that sudden outburst. His shocked expression slowly started to melt however, the fear turning into... amusement. Suddenly, Vesemir just started laughing and clapping his hands, much to Cregan's confusion. "He is back ladies and gentlemen!" Vesemir said between his laughs and claps, stopping the clapping and opening his arms towards Cregan, "The Stark I love to hate is back!".

"What-... what are you?" Cregan stuttered in sheer confusion of what was happening, not being able to comprehend Vesemir's sudden change in attitude.  
"Oh seriously Stark, did you really think I was putting on that whole grumpy and stuck up act for nothing?" Vesemir said while practically jumping up from the chair.  
"Wait, you're not tired at all?" Cregan kept asking questions, still confused about everything that was happening.  
"No, just lazy..." Vesemir said as he streched out his arms and legs, showing off how much energy he was actually holding back.

"So then-" Cregan once again tried to say something but began to stutter. Seeing that, Vesemir started speaking for him.

"Honestly Stark, this past week has been more than depressing. Even with our victory over the Lannisters in the defense, we also sustained heavy loses. Everyone just couldn't stop crying. Even I was beggining to feel a bit down. But then I saw your expression, that day when we were burning the bodies, I saw how much pain you were going through, how much you actually felt for the men under your command... and even for the men you killed." after saying that Vesemir took a few steps forward towards Cregan and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Your a good man Stark, better than most, even if all The South says you're a demon. I'll be honest, when I first recognised you in Bitterbridge, I expected you to be like every other nobleman in this damn country. Stuck up shits who believe themselves better than most just because of their name and blood. I'm glad you proved me wrong, and I am glad I'm under your command General." Vesemir said, his tone holding both pride and honesty in it.

Hearing this all, Cregan remained silent, he didn't really know how to even respond to something like this. It was the first time that someone other than his family saw him for someone other than his namesake 'The Demon of The North'. In truth, Vesemir's words made Cregan think of him as almost a grandfather, but he pulled out those thoughts from his head as quickly as possible. Now, something else came running across his thoughts, something that would end Cregan's pathetic state of mind of worry and regret.

 _'The only thing were allowed to do is to believe we don't regret the decision's we make_ ' Vesemir's words once again rang through Cregan ears, he was sure of what to do now.

As Vesemir released his hand from his shoulder Cregan let out a chuckle, closing his eyes and lowering his head down towards the ground. Vesemir seemed confused by this, "Something funny?", he asked. To his words Cregan then opened his eyes once more, lifting his head high and straightening his posture as he looked at Vesemir. Cregan's expression however, was the thing the confused Vesemir the most. Cregan was smirking at him, looking at Vesemir with soft and welcoming eyes, something Vesemir thought would never happen.

"I finally fucking get it." Cregan said, keeping his smirk as he parted the words from his lips.  
"Get what?" Vesemir asked, seemingly interested at what Cregan was talking about.  
"I understand what you told me all those months ago." Cregan's smirk grew widder.  
"Do you now?" Vesemir once again asked, raising his brow and placing his hands on his hips.

"You were right, I have to stop regretting every decision I make. I have to stop regretting my choices, thinking that they were the wrong ones. I have to live with them, accept them. I have to stop being a pathetic fucking child who isn't pleased by any results whatsoever. I have to stop fighting for everyone else but me... and start caring about my well-being as well." just saying those things made Cregan's smile grow wider and his expression grow more... well, human-like.

Before any of them could say another word, a loud knock came from the door. Both Cregan and Vesemir turned their heads to the door, silently agreeing to end their little talk there. "Come in" Cregan said in a calm tone but instead of it being monotone and expresionless, it was actually filled with emotions. The door opened and from it entered the captain that Cregan spoke to just a week before their defense of Harrenhall. Cregan could remember the man's scarred face and was relieved to see that he still lives.

"Forgive the intrusion General but I bring urgent news." the captain said as he closed the door behind him.  
"And what news is this?" Cregan asked the captain, raising his brow at the same time.  
"A letter from his grace King Robb addresed to you." the captain then pulled out a letter from his pocket.

Walking up to Cregan, the captain then handed the letter to him. The letter was simple paper but it was sealed by the sigil of House Starks, the grey and white direwolf. "Very well captain, if that is all then you are free to go." Cregan said, turning his eyes from the letter and towards the captain. To his words the captain only bowed and left. Then Cregan turned his head towards Vesemir, "Vesemir, we'll talk later, alright?", he told the old man, although it was more a question than anything else. Vesemir didn't say anything, instead he only nodded his head and left.

Now, Cregan was alone in his room once more. He opened the letter and started to read what was inside it...

 _Cregan,_

 _As I am writting this letter I currently reside in The Crag,_  
 _However, by the time it gets to you I will no doupt be continuing my march on The Westerlands,_  
 _The reason I write this letter to you is because of the following orders,_

 _Abandon your defense of Harrenhall and march out towards The Crownlands._

 _Stannis's failed siege had left most of it's armies weak and battle-worn,_  
 _Tywin is currently in King's Landing,_  
 _I believe you can best him however, in that I trust in you,_

 _His two sons however, are currently defending The Westerlands and will not prove to be a problem for you,_

 _May the cold winds guide you brother, as they do all of us,_

 _The King in The North, and your brother, Robb._

 **Note:**

 **HOLY FUCKING SHIT HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN SINCE I LAST UPDATED THIS GODDAMN STORY?!**

 **But no seriously, sorry for the lack of any updates on this story even though it was just a week I feel like I am supposed to apologise for my inconsistent update schedule which, sadly, will be growing even more inconsistent I'm afraid. Two weeks from now I will be flying to Georgia for my sisters wedding and I hope I will be able to update both of my stories at least once before I leave. I am just giving you guys a heads up.**

 **But enough of that, ON TO THE HAPPIER STUFF.**

 **I wrote this chapter as basically sort of a filler chapter to just show off Cregan and Vesemir's friendship a bit more and to transition from Harrenhall onto Cregan's march on The Crownlands (King's Landing). Also, I want to give you guys a little question here. Do you guys like Vesemir? Even if you do, do you guys think I'm giving him a bit to much screen-time and do you guys want some more time spent characterising his companions like that scene a couple chapters back between Vesemir and Lily? Please do leave your reviews, they inspire me and make me know what people think about my stories. Also, it fills me with both a PASSION FOR WRITING, as well as DETERMINATION (shout out to all you Undertale fans).**

 **As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.**


	50. Chapter 49: The True Demon

**Chapter 49: The True Demon**

 **Red skies...**  
 **Bloody river...**  
 **Screaming children...**  
 **The howl of wolves...**

Opening his eyes, Cregan notices himself laying on a field of bloodied golden roses that surround him. Up in the sky a crimson red color overcomes it. Through the roses and thorns, Cregan can see his arms and legs entangled between the many vines that the golden roses were making. He knew this was a dream, but from the sky and the field of thorned, bloodied and golden roses, it seemed this wasn't a vision from the man in plate armor, it seemed this was another nightmare. Knowing this made Cregan somehow remind himself of the moment between Vesemir and himself, of how he finally realised what Vesemir was trying to tell him, or at least what Cregan thought he was trying to tell him.

Just then, a barely noticable smile came across Cregan's face, but the strange thing was that he didn't know why he was smiling. It could have been the fact that Cregan trusted Vesemir with one of the secrets not even his own family knows, the fact that he could share his greatest weakness to someone that he trusted, to a friend. But even still, the nightmares and his own bloodlust was something Cregan was already uncomfortable talking about, yet there was one thing that no one must ever know, not his family, not his friends, not Margaery.

When the feeling of bloodloss started to befel Cregan's arms and legs, that is when the thorned vines released their grasp of them. Blood once again rushed through his veins as Cregan got up from the ground and went up to get bakc on his feet. He knew what was coming, his corpse would appear again, it would slaughter him again, and Cregan would once again lose a piece of himself.

 _ **"What's the point..."**_  
 _ **"Just give up..."**_  
 _ **"They will all die anyways..."**_  
 _ **"You'll never see her again..."**_  
 _ **"No one is going to survive..."**_

Cregan's thoughts manifested into words, his hopeless, defeated, broken thoughts. As he turned around Cregan saw it, his corpse standing lazily over a field of crushed roses, dead hawkes and dismembered wolf heads. It's back hunched over, it's arms dangling from it's shoulders and his legs shaking and looking almost weak enough to not be able to support it's body from the ground. The face was not how Cregan remembered it however, it seemed... normal. Instead of the deformed, scarred, insane and murderous expression that it would always have, the corpse wore Cregan's face, his normal face.

"Do you ever shut up?" Cregan asked, not even reacting to the horryfying image in front of him that would intice fear into anyone.

To his words the corpse said nothing except laugh maniacely. **_"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA..."_** and it just went on and on with no stop, none at all. Until finally, there was silence once again. Cregan and his corpse, standing in silence, eyeing each other down, Cregan with his emotionless and cold stare and his corpse with it's insane and fear-inducing smile.

Instead of doing what he would usually do and try to fight his corpse, Cregan only sat down back on the ground. Now, Cregan had one arm rested upon his knee and the other on the ground. He stared directly into it's eyes, the red tint and wolf like pupil, it made him wonder if he had somehow gotten to Sif, but Cregan instantly shredded that thought from what little privacy he had in this place. The corpse looked somewhat confused at this, as much confusion as a face like that could show. The corpse did nothing except examine Cregan with it's eyes, keeping to the carved smile that went from ear to ear. With the corpse still shifting it's eyes to every corner of Cregan's body, he himself was doing nothing, not moving, not speaking, only sitting there in silence.

Cregan was getting tired of the silence as he let out a long sigh, closing his eyes for just a second before opening them and looking back towards the corpse. "I don't really feel like fighting you, so come, sit." Cregan said with his words being more like commands rather than requests.

The corpse was still suspicious to what Cregan was doing, so it finally decided to respond. _**"Oh my, have you lost your claws wolf."**_ the corpse said as it's human-like voice and face dissapeared to the inhuman tone and expression that Cregan was used to. To it's words Cregan only shifted his head left and right, responding without words but still denying the corpses words.

"No, I just don't feel like fighting anymore, I'm tired, so are you going to sit down or are you just going to kill me again?" Cregan's annoyance seemed to suprise even the corpse. Usually, he would just speak to the corpse as aggresively as possible. Now, it was almost as if he was bored at being where he was, bored if being in the center of his own nightmares.

This seemed to work though. The corpse didn't pull out a some weapon in a grotesque way as usual, it only began to shift it's seemingly limp body towards Cregan. It's legs were moving in an un-coordinated pace, as well as looking broken, shifted and mainly just diformed in all possible ways. Step... step... step... those were the only things that were heard as the corpse limped to where he was, it's arms dangling from it's shoulders. And then, it was some two or three feet away from Cregan, staring at him for a few more moments before it's legs collapsed on themselves. The bones of it's legs broke as the corpse collapsed into a sitting position, it was obvious the body that it was in had reached it's limit, it couldn't take any sort of pressure or movement anymore. The corpse was at the edge of being fully decayed, the only step left was just turning into nothing but ash.

 _ **"So... what are you trying to do... finally start begging me to stop torturing you... HAHAHAHA..."**_ the corpse said as it broke out into a fit of insane laughter, clearly not being able to contain it's own words of sanity. Cregan seemed completely disinterested in listening to the corpses insane laughter, he only flicked his eyes to the red sky that, for some reason, started to lose it's crimson red color and was beggining to be replace by the water blue that the sky in the real world has.

"Be quiet..." Cregan said in a low tone, and it worked, the corpse suddenly went silent in confusion as he continued to talk. "Listen to me, I don't really care what you want. In all honesty, your right, I'm losing my will to fight, my will to survive and keep on living..." Cregan's eyes flicked back to the corpse, narrowing them a bright glow began to overcome the pupils of his eyes, "But that doesn't mean I would let someone like you take over my body."

To his words the corpse once again laughed in an insane manner, still staring at Cregan with it's eyes that had a blood red tint. _**"YOU MUST BE A BIGGER FOOL THAN I THOUGHT IF YOU HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT WHO I AM AFTER ALL THESE YEARS..."**_ the corpse said between it's insane laughs. "DON'T YOU GET IT ALREADY..." it then started to crawl with it's arms as the corpse got right in front of Cregan's face, _**"... YOU WANT ME TO KEEP HAUNTING YOU, YOU WANT ME TO KEEP TORTURING YOU... BECAUSE DEEP DOWN, YOU KNOW YOU DESERVE EVERYTHING I DO TO YOU... EVERY TIME I KILL YOU, EVERY WAY I KILL... DON'T YOU FEEL A PIECE OF YOU GOING AWAY?".**_

"So what, you're trying to redeem me?" Cregan raised his brow, not reacting to the decaying and brittle face that was right in front of his. "You, who were once like me, who acted like me, who had the same moralities like me, who got corrupted because of love..." he kept his tone disinterested and his voice barely above a whisper.

The corpse however, just kept smiling and laughing as it once again spoke. _**"You think I'm like you... HAHA... you fool... I AM YOU... HAHAHAHAHA..."**_ it went into a mad fit of laughter before continuing to speak. _**"I AM YOUR DOUPTS, I AM YOUR GRIEF, I AM YOUR REGRETS... YOUR TRUE MURDEROUS INTENT... I AM THE TRUE CREGAN STARK... I AM THE DEMON OF THE NORTH!"**_

Cregan, once again, didn't even flinch at the corpses speech that was meant to intimidate him, in reality it was mediocre for him than anything else. He let out a slight smirk at his corpses words, "Did you honestly think I would believe that shit?" he asked the corpse while looking at it's dead and rotting eyes, still smirking confidently. This seemed to suprise the corpse as it moved back a bit from Cregan's face, now seeming more cautious than anything. "You are not me..." Cregan said as he lifted himself from the ground and got back on his feet, standing over the corpses hunched over position now. "You will never be me..." he took a step forward. This emediately alarmed the corpse, it flung back some twenty feet, seemingly putting it's legs back together mid-air.

 _ **"WHY ARE YOU EVEN TRYING ANYMORE... YOU KNOW YOU CAN'T BEAT ME..."**_ the corpses smile quickly started to fade as it's entire body twitched and a black smoke leaked from it's eyes and mouth. The screaming stopped almost completely, the corpse was losing control, and Cregan knew it. The howl of wolves began to waver, the bloody water dried up, the sky was normal again, everything was going back to normal. Everything was normal except the area around Cregan's corpse, which still resembled the nightmarish hellscape from just a few moments ago.

"You know what? You're right..." Cregan's words once again made the corpse be confused. "It doesn't matter how many times I try... doesn't matter how many time I kill you... you will always come back, and I'll just die eventually..." his tone had now become dark and more hopeless, something that made the corpses smile come back.

 _ **"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA..."**_ it went into yet another mad fit of laughter before starting to speak again, _**"YOU FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT... SINCE WHEN WERE YOU THE ONE IN CONTROL..."**_. Cregan's corpse then raised it's arm and waved it's fingers, _**"COME CREGAN, LET US DESTROY THE LANNISTERS, AND LET US SHOW ALL THOSE WHO WOULD OPPOSE US THE TRUE MEANING OF PAIN..."** _ before the corpse could finish it's sentence however, it was interrupted by Cregan.

" **Pain**... do you even know what **pain** is?" Cregan stopped the corpse mid-sentence.

" **Pain** is going to sleep every night not knowing if you will wake up the next morning. **Pain** is living, day by day, seeing the same faces, the same people, the same place, having the knowledge that you will never see it again. **Pain** is the knowledge of knowing what lies beyond the lands winter, but pretending you don't, because as long as everyone is safe and sound, it doesn't matter. **Pain** , **REAL PAIN** is eventually feeling... nothing, knowing that everything you do and had done will eventually be worth just that, nothing at all...".

 _ **"YOUR PAIN CAN END..."**_ the corpse was now using a more human-like voice, his face however, was still the same demonic expression as it always has been. _**"LET ME TAKE CONTROL... AND I WILL END YOUR PAIN..."**_ the now calm and somewhat soothing voice coming from a monstrosoty like that was both disturbing and bone-chilling to say the least.

"Like I said before, you were right, I was never fully in control. I'm just a coward who's too afraid to accept the truth, a coward who is too afraid to accept his fate." Cregan's emotionless tone and expression became a completely grim and defeated voice and face. The corpse had it's smile going from ear to ear again, until Cregan spoke once more.

"But-"

"Knowing what you would do if I let you take full control... what would happen to everyone." Cregan returned to his persona of not giving anything about his emotions as he stared the corpse down with his equally menacing eyes. "I know what you would do to them. Robb, Mother, Sansa, Arya, Bran, Rickon, Triston, Lyarra, Loras, Margaery, Willas, Garlan and so many more, you would kill them all. It doesn't matter who they are, Lannister... Greyjoy... Arryn... Tyrell... you would erase everyone and everything. That's something I can't allow."

Suddenly, the corpse started to twitch again as the same blackness enveloped it's eyes and mouth. Even with that, Cregan continued to stare at his corpse, not even flinching at the grotesque sight in front of him. The corpses twitching just got worse and worse with each moment that passed, but Cregan stood his ground. "Seven... seven years I was afraid of you..." Cregan stated, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again. "I was afraid of you for so long... for all those years... but no more... I won't let you win this little game of ours".

And it seemed that Cregan was telling the truth. There was no fear in his eyes, only bravery, there was no doupt in his mind, only determination, nothing that showed his regrets, and this proved to anger the corpse. It seemed to be at edge, only moments away from charging at Cregan in pure blind rage, one more thing, and it would snap. _**"You Starks really are hard to kill..."**_ the corpse finally spoke, it's twitching now resembled more trembling than anything else. And whilst the corpse was losing it's humanity slowy, Cregan only gave the corpse a smirk, something that even he was uncomfortable in doing due to his sheer nature. _**"Your grandfather tried to fight me once, look what happened to him..."**_ it made it's threat, raising it's hands as the shadows and dark aura started to surround it, _**"... look where that got him... burned alive by The Mad King..."**_

"Aye, you haunted my grandfather, before him you haunted thousands more after your death by our hands. After my grandfather you decided to haunt my Uncle Benjen, but he resisted you, and eventually, you just got bored and found a new oppurtunity in me. Because of you my uncle joined The Night's Watch, then you stopped haunting him and started torturing me." Cregan's words just kept suprising the corpse as it's smile once again faded, "Tell me monster, how many of my ancenstors did you drive insane? How many promises did you make for them? How many of their lives did you take?" at this point, the corpses trembling resemble that of fear, but Cregan knew better.

 _ **"HOW MUCH... HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW?"**_ the corpse screached out in an ear-grading tone, once again, nothing about it was human, only a monsters voice in a monsters body, Cregan's body. However, even with it's trembling and now completely monster-like expression, Cregan stayed calm and collected, not even answering it's question, just smirking at it confidently. **_"YOU THINK YOU KNOW EVERYTHING DON'T YOU?! YOU THINK YOU ARE IN CONTROL?! YOU AREN'T IN CONTROL, I AM! I AM THE ONE IN CONTROL! I AM YOU MASTER! YOU. WILL. OBEY. ME!"._**

As the corpse lost it composure, now nothing more than a black pudge surrounded by rotting skin. Cregan spread out his arms, let out a wide smile, and spoke up, "Since when were you the one in control...". This silenced the corpse emediately, until...

 _ **"hehehehe... hahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA..."**_ the laugh began, and the corpse charged towards Cregan, the shadows around it leaving a dark liquid behind it. With every step the corpse took at immense speeds it just began to lose it's skin, breaking and tearing through the black liquid that was now enveloping Cregan's corpse. Cregan stood his ground once more, not budging, not flinching, not even reacting, he just stood there and observed what was coming at him. During it's entire charge to Cregan the corpses laugh continued, becoming even more insane as the quick seconds passed, something Cregan thought was impossible.

Death was something Cregan knew very well in his nightmares. So many times, so many different ways, each one of them as painful as it could be, but not this time, it was time to show his nightmares the true meaning of pain.

The corpse kept running at Cregan before leaping into the air, launching itself at him, but Cregan was ready. As his corpse got closer and closer to Cregan, a moonlit blue light started to form around his left arm. Before the corpse could even react, it was just a foot above Cregan when he drove Frostbite through the corpses skull. The blue light formed into Cregan's longsword, Frostbite, and the suddeness of everything made the corpses look of suprise more noticable when Cregan drove his blade through the corpses eye and out the back of it's skull. It only stared at Cregan with it's one remaining eye, the corpses gaze filled with both suprise and confusion to what had just happened. The two continued to stare at each other for a few more moments, Cregan with his dissinterested look and his cocky smirk, and the corpses glare of shock to what it had just witnessed. It's smille faded as the black aura vanished, the silence continued before the corpse faded away, a trail of ash and dust following after it's dissapearance.

The specs of dust left marks on Cregan, mostly on Frostbite, which was now glowing the same blue shine it had when Cregan first saw it. The same thing happened from just a few months ago, it had dissapeared, and Cregan had thought he won, but not this time, he wasn't letting his guard down just yet. To his right hand a small spark started to appear, that spark eventually turned to a flicker of light, and that flicker of light transformed into a burning flame, eventually forming into Cregan's shortsword, Demonsteel. The shortswords fiery red glow and aura of warmth was now the most noticable in Cregan's nightmare. From all these things, Cregan had come to an epiphany of sorts, both Frostbite and Demonsteel had their distinctive traits become more 'active' in Cregan's dreams. Perhaps this was Cregan's own mind trying to give him an edge in this fight, then again, it could have been almost countless other reasons, Cregan just didn't want to think about them just now, not during something this important.

The wind howled, the sun shined, the birds sang and the roses blomed. All the nightmarish imagery had dissapeared, replaced by the scenery of some kind of paradise, at least to Cregan. As he inhaled the newly fresh air accompanied the scent that the blooming golden roses gave out Cregan could hear footsteps approaching him at that same immense speed. Cregan didn't react to it though, instead he closed his eyes, inhaling the fresh and scented air one more time, he knew he had to savor it for what was about to come next. Finally having enough of the air and with the footsteps now closer than ever, Cregan exhaled, opening his eyes once more.

"And so it begins..."

Cregan emediately swung both Frostbite and Demonsteel to the direction from where he heard the footsteps. This was a smart move seeing at what his swings had hit, once again, Cregan's reflexes proved to be his most trusted traits. To his back was the corpse, except now it didn't really resemble anything like a corpse. An empty darkness surrounded it's entire body, the only thing left Cregan could recognise was the face. The face was Cregan's, but like always, this was not like his actual face, it was rotten and decaying. The only thing keeping the face from breaking apart like all the other parts of the corpse was possibly it's desperatness to try and stop this fight, perhaps make Cregan feel fear again, but that wasn't going to work anymore. The moment the blades his it's body that was now nothing more than an abyss of darkness, the corpses torso separated as the same expression appeared on it's face. It was starting to lose control over Cregan's mind, thus losing it's practical imunity to Cregan's attacks. The corpse once again dissapeared into ash and dust but this time it was much faster than last time.

Once again, Cregan became covered by the dust, however, Demonsteels warm aura made the ash quickly turn to cinder as small sparks flew off his body and swords.

Before Cregan could take another moment of peace, the corpse attacked once again. This time it was much faster but still, Cregan was ready for it. The corpse swung it's 'arms' at Cregan, it's limbs forming into a sharp blade but Cregan easily blocked it with Frostbite before shoving Demonsteel through the corpses throat. Once again, ash and dust spread as the corpse dissapeared, this time it merely flew away due to the wind carrying it through the sky.

However, the ash and dust quickly reformed into the black abbys that the corpse had now permanently taken as it's form. It quickly dropped towards Cregan, letting out an ear-grading screach while falling. The speed of the fall made Cregan assume it was forcefully making itself go quicker, somehow. When the corpse had come closer to him, it spread it's arms to try and grab Cregan. But Cregan just dodged out of the way, spining to the sides before unleashing a flurry of attack the split the corpse into four parts, it's legs, arms, torso and head. The corpse dissapeared into ash and dust once more.

Ash and dust, ash and dust, ash and dust, time after time it had only repeated with Cregan killing his corpse each one of these times. He split it in half, he cut off it's arms, he cut of it's legs, he drove his blades through it's eyes, through it's neck, he cut off it's head, he tore it to shreds, so many ways, so many times. Cregan didn't want to admit it, but every time he would kill the corpse, he felt a bit of glee from it. After the corpses fifteenth or so attempt, it's nervousness and frustration became more and more obvious.

It slowly walked in front of Cregan, the black aura now being much weaker as it lazily flicked it's head upwards to look at him. Cregan did nothing but smirk at the corpse before speaking, "You seem frustrated about something..." he said sarcasticaly. The flash in his eyes reappeared once more, as if lighting struck his gaze, "... then I guess I'm pretty good at this, eh?" Cregan asked, the same sarcasm being constant in his tone.

Just then, darkness surrounded Cregan's feet, something that resembled water but much darker. In a strange way, the water reminded him of the pond in Winterfell's godswood. But before Cregan could move away from the small black puddle around eight hands burst from the water and grabbed all of Cregan's limbs, legs, feet, arms and hands. He didn't react to it though, Cregan just stayed there and looked at the corpse with a disinterested expression. Unlike Cregan however, the corpse had it's ear to ear smile slowly creeping back up before it raised one arm.

 _ **"NOW... DIE!"**_ the corpse crushed it's palm, resulting in all the black water engulfing Cregan as it sprung from the ground. All of the water formed into a sphere that quickly shrunk resulting in a loud crushing sound resembling Cregan's bones being broken. This made the corpse start laughing insanely once more, _**"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA..."**_ that was the only sound it made, thinking it had finally won.

But then suddenly, it's laughter had stopped abruptly to the sound of steel piercing through it's torso. The corpse looked down to see two blades sticking out of it's body, one having a warm aura around it, the other having an insatiabely cold feeling to it. The corpse leaned it body back, seemingly unable to control it anymore. Instead of falling to the ground however, the corpses body was stopped by the body of it's attacked. It was Cregan, still alive somehow. It's expression of satisfaction dissapeared completely as it flicked it's eyes back to look at him. While it did that, Cregan leaned in to the corpses rotten and grotesque ear to whisper to it. "Quite persistent aren't you?" Cregan whispered in a deep tone before continuing, "But when will you learn? Your not going to kill me... not this time..." he whispered.

 _ **"YOU... HOW D-"**_

Before the corpse could say anything else, Cregan split his blades in opposite directions, tearing the corpses torso in half. Ash and dust, once more filled the air. By now, the entire lush field of roses was covered in that same ash and dust. The golden roses were now an ash-grey color, quite fitting actually. The air had carried some of the dust away. And the sun revealed all that ash and dust to Cregan's eyes.

The corpse was growing desperate by now, that much Cregan knew. However, he expected it to attack him again in some way the corpse thought would suprise Cregan. This made Cregan's reflexes on high alert. Any sound, any movement, any voice, any change in the scenery, any shift in the wind, Cregan would know about it. But, instead of that, Cregan heard water bubbling behind him.

As he turned around Cregan saw his corpse... melting.

The corpses skin had all nearly dissapeared revealing it's true form, a black mess with nothing but darkness in it. The only thing left that resembled anything human was it's face, which was also melting, becoming more and more grotesque by the second. Once again, Cregan didn't even react to the sight in front of him, he merely walked up to the diformed and melting darkness that his corpse now was. Cregan stood over his corpse, looking at how it desperately tried to reform itself into something that had a body, but to not avail. This continued for several minutes as the two stood in silence, Cregan watching at the pathetic sight that once broke fear into his heart, and the corpse still desperately trying to put itself back together, but again, to no avail.

"You really are determined on trying to break me, aren't you?" Cregan asked the corpse, giving it a pityful smile.  
 _ **"YOU... HOW... DARE YOU?!"**_ the corpse screatched out, trying to fling itself at Cregan, but failing miserabely.  
"It's simple really..." Cregan shrugged his shoulder and once again smiled, "... I broke you, I'm suprised it was this easy".

 _ **"YOU THINK YOU'VE WON?! YOU THINK YOU'VE BROKEN ME?! YOU'RE WRONG! I WILL BREAK YOU! I WILL ERASE YOU!"**_ the corpse went into another mad rambling, the melting speeding up as it continued to scream at Cregan. The corpse noticed this however and calmed down. It stared at Cregan directly in the eyes.

 _ **"I will break down that little wall of yours..."**_  
 _ **"I will slaughter all your pathetic people..."**_  
 _ **"I will turn them all against each other..."**_  
 _ **"I will erase all of you from existence..."**_

 _ **"And when I am finished... I will make you suffer for eternity... knowing that it was all your fault... and then you will kn-"**_

Before the corpse could finish it's threats, it found Cregan boot above it's head, knocking the corpse to the ground. While everything else melted, it seemed the corpses head was still intact, and fully crushable. Cregan slowly started to add pressure to the skull, pressing his boot against it. As the cracks and breakings began to overcome the almost completely melted corpse, it was now without any skin and left but a skeleton. Before he fully crushed it's eyes flicked back to him, the look of sheer terror to what it was seeing, and Cregan spoke to it once more.

 **"Remember these words Demon..."**

 **"Stare into the abyss for too long and eventually... the abyss will stare back at you..."**

The corpses skull was now almost completely shattered, only a fraction of force was keeping it from completely being crushed. Cregan gave the corpse one last look. It was a look of pure hatred and spite, of anger and rage, the completely opposite of his lips, which were releasing an almost sadistic smile as Cregan spoke his next few words.

 **"I'll see you tommorow night, 'King of Winter'..."**

 **Note:**

 **And there we have it people, Chapter 49...**

 **I know it has been almost what, two weeks now, but I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as it contained answers, revelations, action, and the thing we all love, Cregan being an unkillable Demi-God of Destruction. Like I always say, all the support for this story is more than welcome and it warms my heart to see people enjoying my story and what I am writting. And as I also say, all your guys's review are also more than welcome and I love reading them.**

 **As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.**


	51. Chapter 50: The Bonds We Forge

**Chapter 50: The Bonds We Forge**

Robb looked down at the map, surrounded by his most trusted advisors along with many lords from The North and The Riverlands. Due to his marriage with Jeyne, The Westerlings had offered what little of an army they had left to support Robb in the war. The Westerlings gathered up about 1,000 men, all led by Raynald Westerling, Jeyne's elder brother. They knew that this marriage was possibly the best thing to happen to them, but even still, Robb couldn't fully trust The Westerlings. The map that Robb was looking down on was a map of The Westerlands. Now that they had left The Crag and were on the march again, Robb and his army were in enemy lands, more importantly, unknown lands. To attempt ambushes in The Westerlands would be impossible due to most of Robb's army never going this far south.

Currently they were technically still on the outskirts of The Westerlands so resistance in these parts was still very small. During the march Robb and his army only encountered Lannister camps in the wilderness and small fortifications. Out of the two only the fortifications proved to be a challenge. Whenever they encountered a Lannister camp Robb would send his armored cavalry to charge down all the resistance and then send his infantry to deal with the stragglers. It was a tactic he would rarely use to just take care of smaller battles quickly, and so far, it seemed to be working.

Robb knew all the dangers of war. From traitors, false information, sabotage, Robb knew it all, that is why he would always try to use different tactics in battle to not become predictable. When your enemy becomes predictable, they aren't a threat anymore, and when they aren't a threat anymore, they are weak.

As he moved the many figurines around the map Robb remembered all the numbers of The Lannister forces. Together in just The Westerlands their forces consisted of about 30,000 and while, at first, Robb's forces had a number of around 35,000, during the many battles there were still casualties, dropping their numbers to around 28,000, including their new soldiers from The Westerlings. However, the problem with hiring any mercenary group in Westeros and forcing simple peasants to fight for you had it's own problems. The Lannister army consisted mainly of uncoordinated mercenaries fighting only for gold and weary smallfolk who were unlucky enough to be forced into The Lannister army. Robb's forces however were trained and battle-hardened, ready for combat with full devotion to their liege, or rather, their king.

To his right was Greatjon Umber, wrapped in boiled leather and his Umber chains tied around his torso, simbolising the banner of his house. Next to Greatjon were other Northern lords. To Robb's left was Raynald, while he didn't completely trust Raynald Robb knew the benefits of having someone who actually knows The Westerlands, so this did prove beneficial after all.

Currently they were near the ruins of Castamere, home to the once second most powerful family in The Westerlands, The Reynes. To prove his competence in ruling, Tywin quelled a rebellion that The Reynes had started to become not the second, but the most powerful family in The Westerlands. In return for their treachery, Tywin obliterated their family and every living member of House Reyne was slaughtered. Castamere was raized to the ground, leaving nothing but a ruined castle and a somber song, 'The Rains of Castamere'.

It would be a lie to say that nobody had heard of that song, it was almost a legend by itself. Too many times was Robb threatened to stop his war by this song. Tywin would send bards to sing to Robb and his army to discourage them. Robb could recall Jeyne's expression when she first had this happen to her. Jeyne was horrified, people from The Westerlands knew of Tywin's cruelty more than anyone else in Westeros, Jeyne wasn't an exception. The whole night she couldn't go to sleep and tears would shed from her eyes all through the night.

Many hours of planning had passed. They thought of taking Ashemark, perhaps Sarsfield or even Oxcross, but after many arguments and potential brawls happening Robb knew they weren't deciding anything today, so he called this war council over for today. He stood up from the chair that he was sitting on for the duration of the war council as the entire table went silent to look at their liege.

"That is enough for today! All of you are free to leave now and tommorow we decide where we shall strike next!" as Robb finished his sentence all of his bannermen let out a final roar before they also stood up from their chairs and started to leave the tent from where they were planning.

"Lord Umber, not you..." he stopped Greatjon before he could also leave the tent and the giant of a man stopped at his king's word.

As everyone left Greatjon returned to his seat beside Robb. Now with Greatjon beside him and all other lords away it felt safe for Robb to revela his plans. "What are your orders, your grace?" Greatjon asked, seemingly already aware of what his liege was about to do. Robb spoke no words, he only rose from his chair to have a better look at the map on the table. He first took the figurines of his banner house first. The Chains of Umber and The Sun of Karstark, those were the two figurines he picked up and raised them high to give Greatjon a better look at them.

"I've sent a letter to Cregan informing him that he leave Harrenhall and march to The Crownlands." Robb stated as he began to place the two figurines on the map. Greatjon only remained silent as he nodded to his king's words and after Robb stopped placing the figurines he turned his head back to Greatjon. "I want you and Lord Karstark to go back to Riverrun and defend it." Greatjon's expression was now noticably distressed by Robb's words.

"Your grace, I'm not sure if this is the best course of actions." Greatjon tried to defend his case.  
"We are now in The Westerlands, if The Lannisters get past us and reach Riverrun then we won't be able to stop the siege in time." Robb emediately stopped Greatjon's arguments.  
"But our place is beside you, defending our king!" Greatjon slammed his hand on the table, still persistent on his stance on leaving.

"This is not up for debate Lord Umber!" Robb roared out, interrupting Greatjon once again. "What do you think would happen to Sansa, to Arya, or my mother, what do you think The Lannisters would do to them if they got their hands on them?" Robb said in a now much calmer tone, an opposite to his tone just a few moments ago. Greatjon was completely silent, staring at Robb with a hint of smile starting to grow on his face. Many times had Greatjon 'tested' Robb in his leadership skills, while this could have been seen as treason and an attempt to take power, Robb knew House Umber's loyalty was unwavering even in the hardest times and that Greatjon's 'tests' were really just ways of seeing if his king was truly ready for this conflict between one of the strongest houses in Westeros.

"Very well your grace." Umber said with a slight hint of glee in his voice, it was then Robb knew what Greatjon was trying, "I'll inform Karstark and his troops".  
"Good, you two leave at dusk." Robb said, keeping his voice as stern as ever.

With that, Greatjon left the war tent leaving Robb alone. Before leaving Robb took one last look at the map, all the figurines and marks of towns were layed out in front of him yet still, there was something he was missing, he just didn't know what it was. He glanced at all the figurines, the Stark direwolves were placed near where Castamere was, alongside it were the Fish of Tully, the sigils of houses Bracken, Blackwood, Forrester, Cerwyn, Manderly, Mormont, Mallister and many more. In front of them, the Lion of Lannister, alongside them, the Paynes, Tarbecks, Krakehalls, Swyfts, Spicers, Serrets, Leffords as well as the Lannisters of Lannisport, a cadet family branch of The Lannisters.

Since the war started there were many casualties on both sides, but still, Robb's forces were winning. He had heard of his brothers success in defending Harrenhall. 20,000 men, weary and in poor health, were victorious against 40,000 fully armed and in perfect condition enemy soldiers. Robb knew of Cregan's extreme prowess in battle, seven hells he had both experienced and witnessed it many times in Winterfell, but it seemed that even now his little brother could suprise him. Robb never thought of Cregan as a strategist or even a tactician, but it seemed he was skilled in even that. However, Robb thought the main reason Cregan managed this was because of the love he had for his own men. Unlike many leaders, Cregan cared for each and every man under his command, it was one of the reasons Robb was reluctant to give him his position as general in his army. And despite it being hard for Robb to admit it, even he believed that, in every battle, sacrifices had to be made for victory.

Robb first heard of his brothers victory in a report from Dacey, however, the victory was not the only thing in the report. Aside from the casualties list and a letter about their lack of supplies, there was also a sealed letter, meant only for Robb's eyes. In the letter, Dacey spoke of something that happened during the defense of Harrenhall. She wrote that Cregan mainly stood on the outskirts of the battle, something that was already suspicious due to Cregan's sheer attitude in battle. Then, as if out of nowhere, Cregan fell unconcious and some twenty seconds later, Cregan jumped from the ground and released a horrific scream before charging straight into the Lannister lines. Everything in the letter described Cregan as... inhuman. She wrote about how he used his two swords to cut through all the remaining soldiers before grabbing Kevan Lannister by the neck and breaking it with so much force that he almost ripped his head from his shoulders. The words Dacey used for describing Cregan were:

 _'Nothing about him looked natural Robb, it was almost beast-like in manner...'_

But Robb disregarded the report, as disturbing as it was, he couldn't handle any more stress today. He broke sight from the map and exited the tent. Outside the tent a cold breeze overcome Robb. He was used to the cold, but all these months in The South seemed to make Robb numb to it. Even through his armor the breeze sent chills down his back. His armor, a combination of plate and boiled leather with the Stark direwolf engraved on the collar of his armor. In truth that little sigil was the only thing separating the appearances of Robb and own men. Cregan's armor made him much more recognisable however, this was it's intention. Robb's brother knew of the fear he sent to the hearts of Lannister men and his armor only doubled that fact. His helmet had the resemblence of a direwolf with the top having wolf's ears and the bottom having razor sharp teeth. In the middle was a vizor that offered Cregan vision. His chestplate was the thing that resembled Stark armor the most, boiled leather and plate mail with parts of chainmail. The rest of the armor like the gauntlets and leggings made Cregan look like his namesake, 'The Demon of The North'.

Walking through the camp Robb could already see Umber and Karstark men running around, taking all of their equipment and getting ready for a long journey back home. While they were running however, they would stop and bow to their king in a show of respect. While Robb was suprised at how seriously his men thought of his title, he was also somewhat annoyed. Robb was a Stark and for hundreds of years The Starks wer Wardens of The North. Now, Robb was not a Warden of The North, he was The King of The North and The Trident, Ruler of The First Men and The King of Winter as well as The King of The Rivers.

All along the camp the many banners of both The North and The Riverlands flickered through the wind. Among those banners however, the grey banner of House Stark was the most present in the camp. Just a few months ago Robb could also see many other banners, almost a dozen more than there are now. The banners of House Bolton and Frey were one of them as well as the banner of House Ryswell. Robb knew of Barbrey Ryswell's hate for his family, but to abandon his campaign due to Roose Bolton's death was going to far. The Leech Lord was a traitor and Cregan had legitimate evidence of his treason yet even with that, Lady Ryswell left Robb's host along with what little men she brought. It was clear to Robb now that she was also planning on betraying him along with Walder Frey and Roose Bolton and he will have to deal with her once the war is won. That is, IF the war is won.

After his little walk throughout the camp, Robb finally arrived to his own tent. Robb entered his tent where he saw his wife Jeyne sitting on the edge of the bed with a book in one of her hands and Greywind resting his head on her lap. While the wolf was resting on Jeyne's lap she gently stroked Greywind's fur. The sight was so relaxing that Robb emediately felt his tiredness come out the moment he saw it. However, fate was not so kind. When Robb entered the tent Greywind emediately jumped from Jeyne's lap to greet his owner. The wolf ran to Robb and started jump at him in joy. Greywind's first jump at Robb almost made him fall on the ground and were it not for him having experience in these kinds of moments he surely would have fallen. Instead, Robb greeted his wolf by simply kneeling down and scratching Greywind's ears. Despite him being a deadly weapon in the battlefield as well as a stern figure whenever Robb was in court, Greywind was still a dog and every dog loves an owner who shows them affection.

"He only gets this excited when he's with you." Jeyne said with a giggle, closing the book she was reading and placing it to the sides.  
"Come on, that can't be true, he likes you too." Robb sarcastically reassured his wife while trying to stop Greywind from jumping on him anymore.  
"Well he's good company at least." Jeyne then stood up from the side of the bed and took something from a wooden bowl before walking up to Greywind.

The moment she did that Greywind's nose started to shift around as he sniffed the area around him. When Jeyne stepped into that area Greywind turned to her as she revealed what she had in her hand, a small piece of dried venison. Greywind emediately pushed his snout to the piece of venison but before he could eat the small piece Jeyne closed up her palm. Almost as if out of instinct Greywind pushed back his head and looked at Jeyne. "Sit." Jeyne said in a sharp but still high tone, and Greywin sat. "Lie down." Jeyne said with the same tone, and Greywind lied down, his head still held high and looking at Jeyne. "Roll around." Jeyne moved her hand in a circular motion and in response, Greywind rolled around in a few circles. "Good boy!" Jeyne said joyfully as she opened up her palm and let Greywind enjoy his treat.

All the while Robb watched this from the sides while taking of the straps of his armor. When the two's little show was finished Robb had already taken off his chestplate and removed his sword buckle, placing the sheathed sword on the small table near his and Jeyne's bed.

"You've been teaching him tricks now?" Robb asked, amused at what he was seeing.  
"What else do you think I've been doing all these weeks, teaching him how to read a book?" Jeyne said sarcastically.  
"You know he's a direwolf, not some pampered puddle." Robb said as he started to unstrap his leggings.  
"Well then why is there a little puppy currently rolling on the ground in front of us?" Jeyne once again said sarcastically as she scratched the rolling wolf's belly.  
"Point taken..." Robb chuckled, finally taking off all of his armor and now he was just in a simple tunic and pants.

After he took of the boiled leather and plate armor, Robb finally felt at ease from not having to travel in a heavy suit of armor. While his armor was not uncomfortable it was not conditioned for southern weather. In The North a constant cold would rule all over the lands, no matter the time. Due to this, many northern soldiers wore thick armor with thick fur cloaks. Most of his men try not to voice their complaints of the heat but he could see all the lords in their massive fur coats sweating from head to toe. This was also true for Robb though, he did not want to wear any sort of 'southern' armor, he was from The North and he wanted people to know that he was.

Despite that however, the sudden change from a full suit of armor to just a tunic and pants made Robb slightly shiver from the moment. Even inside the tent he could feel the cold breeze from outside taking over the tents warm atmsosphere. But after that slight bout of cold Robb once again became used to the cold weather. He then simply walked over to his and his wife's bed and practically fell onto the bed. As Robb sank deeper into the soft wool of his bed he closed his eyes and let out a sigh.  
"Was today tiring?" Jeyne asked, noticing her husbands obvious sigh for attention. Robb opened his eyes and turned his head to the right as he saw Jeyne already sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at Robb with her brown eyes. He wanted to answer her but from the look on Jeyne's face it already seemed like she already knew the answer. Instead of saying anything Robb merely nodded to his wife's question. To his answer Jeyne also let out a sigh, she cared about Robb and whenever he was distressed, tired or nervous she would know.

Usually Jeyne would wear an orange and red dress, simbolising the colors of her house, or a grey and blue dress simbolising her new name as Jeyne Stark, The Queen of The North. But now she was wearing only a grey nightgown and it looked like she was ready for bed but this wasn't really strange seeing as it was already evening.

"That bad?" Jeyne once again asked as she layed down on the bed beside Robb. This time Robb didn't even look at Jeyne, he only nodded once again and sighed. Jeyne placed a hand around Robb as she got closer to him and layed her head on his shoulder before nuzzling beside Robb's neck. "I wish I could do more for you. I wish I could do more than just sit in this tent and be useless." she whispered to Robb's ear before going back to nuzzling her head beside his neck. This seemed to get his attention as Robb opened his eyes and turned his head to Jeyne before wrapping his arms around her.

"Don't say that." Robb said before completely turning to Jeyne. "Trust me, I don't want you to go through all the things I do every day. If it wasn't for you, I honestly don't know how I could have handled all of this." Robb's tired face was now replace by a warm smile and reassuring look. "Ever since this war started I've been struck with so much in so little time that our little moments here make me appreciate all our time together even more." Jeyne's face was now as joyfull as ever before Robb pressed his lips to hers and the two kissed.

As they separated their lips from each other Jeyne once again looked at her husband. "I know you'll be fine, but..." Jeyne placed a hand on Robb's chest, looking down at her hand before locking eyes with him again. "... but I'm still your wife, and It's my job to worry about you." she said with her usual soft tone and unsure gaze. Before she could say another word however, Robb placed a hand on her cheek and once again kissed her on the lips. As they once again stopped kissing Robb stared into Jeyne's eyes with a confident look in his own eyes.

"Trust me, I'll be fine... and I'm not going anywhere anytime soon..." he said and with that, the two slowly drifted off into sleep in each others arms.

 **The Following Morning...**

The sun shined through the drapes of Robb and Jeyne's tent. Robb woke up before Jeyne, something that was a usual thing for them. As he looked down Robb saw Jeyne with her hands around him and her head rested on his shoulder. He continued to look as his wife calmy slept, her expression not showing a care in the world. He had seen that same expression so many times yet, even now, Robb wasn't tired of it, and he was sure he would never get tired of it. Through all the war and bloodshed every day, these calm moments where he could just be with his wife, when he could experience even at least some joy in this cursed war.

To the side of the bed was Greywind, laying down beside Robb and Jeyne's feet also sleeping peacefully. When Jeyne decided she wanted to go with Robb he was reluctant at first, but he knew Greywind would keep her safe, even when they were in The Crag and Jeyne was tending to Robb's wounds Greywind had taked a liking to the girl. Like most of the new people she would meet Jeyne was extremely afraid of Greywind in the beggining but in time the wolf grew on her as she did on him. In only a short amount of time the two were almost inseparable, like Robb and Greywind when they first met.

Before he could enjoy this simple moment anymore, a Stark soldier came rushing through the drapes of his tent, he was covered in blood as was his unsheathed sword. Only when the draped of his tent open did Robb notice the sounds of steel clashing and the war cries of soldiers throughout the rest of the camp. Jeyne almost jumped up from the bed as her head shot straight upward to the all the sounds and she turned to the bloody soldier. Greywind also heard this as the wolf opened it's eyes and actually from the bed to look at the soldier.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Robb demanded.

"Your grace we're u-" before the soldier could finish his sentence an arrow found itself on his neck. Blood quickly sprouted out from the wound and Jeyne screamed in horror. When the dead soldier fell onto the ground he twiched for a few seconds, trying to pry the arrow from his neck but to no avail. As the soldier lay dead Robb instantly knew what was happening, they were under attack.

He jumped from his bed and emediately ran for his sword that was by the table beside his bed. Robb grabbed his swords sheath and buckled it. When he turned around Robb saw the entrance of his tent being obscured by three Lannister soldiers. One had a halberd while the other two had longswords. The one with the halberd seemed to be in charge of the little riff-raff group. The halberd user took a step forward and as he did that, the two other men also took a step forward. Greywind emediately started growling at them, a warning to The Lannister men, Robb placed a hand on the pummel of his sword and Jeyne emediately ran to Robb's side. "Time to die northern scum" one of the men growled. To their words, Robb only gave a cocky smirk as he reached out a hand to the table and picked up a knife.

"Greywind... tear them apart..." on those orders Greywind charged at the closest Lannister to him, the one with the halberd. Their attention was diverted from Robb to Greywind quickly as the one with a halberd aimed it forward to try and stop the wolf. Robb used this oppurtunity to throw the knife at the Lannister halberdier. His throw was successful as the knife flew through the air and hit the Lannister in the eye. The three of them started to panic but before they could do anything Greywind jumped on the halberdier before ripping his throat out and procceding to jump on the second Lannister. The third Lannister man was about to stab Greywind before Robb charged at him and thrust his sword through the Lannister man's throat.

Now all three of them are dead and Robb took a look outside to see all of the camp burning and both Robb's army and The Lannister army were fighting against one another. He saw all the destruction and his many dead men, all of this infuriated him beyond belief. He turned to Greywind, his snout covered in blood, before turning to Jeyne, horrified at what just happened.

"Robb what's happening?!" Jeyne finally managed to release the words from her mouth.

"Stay here, I have to find my uncle!" to his words Jeyne tried to protest but was quickly cut off by Robb's look of seriousness. Robb then looked at Greywind, "Keep her safe..." he said calmly and the wolf only barked in response. Robb was about to leave before he was stopped by Jeyne hand grabbing him by the arm.

"Please... be safe..." Jeyne whimpered, looking at Robb with a sad expression. He said nothing as Robb pulled Jeyne in and kissed her on the lips. As the two parted lips Robb only gave her a reassuring nod and a confident look. That was when Robb rushed out of the tent.

Running throughout the camp Robb saw the thousands of corpses. A mix of both Robb's men and The Lannister men. It was still dawn and the sun had not entirely come out yet throughout the entire camp everyone was surely awake. They are either awake, or they are dead. The many tents were burned, the thousands of corpses lined the ground and screams of death filled the air. Robb already had his sword out and he trusted his reflexes to keep him safe but right now he had no shield and no armor to protect him. He was as vulnerable as a target in a practice range.

Out of nowhere a Lannister soldier charged at Robb. The Lannister swung at him with his sword, in response Robb parried the blade, first blocking the attack before pushing it away and slicing at The Lannister man's head, cutting it off in the process. The blood splurted from where the soldiers head was and the beheaded corpse fell on the ground. Robb thought he was safe for now, but he was wrong. Behind him Robb could hear a crossbow being armed with a bolt. Robb quickly pulled a shield from one of the corpses arms and, before the crossbowman could fire his bolt, Robb raised his shield to block the bolt. It was succesful and Robb bought himself another few seconds. Before he could charge at the crossbowman, the Lannister soldier found a massive greatsword through his chest.

The Lannister man fell on the ground and behind the now dead corpse were Lord Gregor Forrester in full armor and in his hands his Valyrian Steel Greatsword "Ironwood" and, ironycally, an ironwood shield in his other hand. Beside him was also Lord Jason Mallister, Raynald Westerling and Robb's uncle Edmure. The four were also accompanied by hundreds of soldiers who all emediately rallied alongside their king with the lords.

"It's good to see you alive nephew!" Edmure said, his tone showing how clearly out of breath he was.  
"You as well uncle..." Robb replied, wipping the blood off his blade on the corpse he killed a few moments ago.  
"Your grace, where's the queen, where's my sister?!" Raynald emediately entered into the conversation.  
"She's in my tent Ser Raynald." Robb said calmly, turning his head to Raynald.  
"Alone?!" Raynald shouted out, almost breaking into a sprint to go and look for his sister before being stopped by Robb.  
"Greywind is protecting her Ser Raynald, right now I need you by my side!" Robb said sternly.

The two stared each other down for a couple moments then, Raynald with his look of terror, still worried for his sisters safety, and Robb with his cold and stern look of seriousness. After those few moments passed Raynald sigh and loosened up, that was when Robb let go of Raynald.

"We are at your command your grace, what are your orders?" Lord Forrester said as he rested Ironwood on his shoulder.

Robb nodded at all his lords before walking past them and lokoing at all the men, battle-ready and ready to kill some Lannisters. "ALL OF YOU, WITH ME, IT'S TIME WE TAKE THE FIGHT TO THESE BASTARDS!" Robb shouted out as he raised his sword in the air and all of his soldiers did the same. Robb, equipped with his sword and shield, marched forward with all of the lords beside him and behind all of them were thousands of Stark soldiers.

They all marched throughout the camp, killing any Lannister soldier in their way and recruiting any surviving Stark bannermen to their march. This continued on for almost an hour, they cleared out most of the camp before reaching a massive host of Lannister men all grouped up in the camp. The two parties met face to face, staring each other down. A massive battle was about to commence. By now, Robb was completely covered in blood and his sword and shield were in the same state. Beside him were Robb's uncle Edmure, in similar attire like his nephew, Lord Jason Mallister, wielding a hand axe and shield with plate armor, Lord Gregor Forrester, wielding his greatsword and shield along with wearing boiled leather, and Raynald Westerling, having only a longsword with chainmail and plate armor.

Opposite of the Stark army was the Lannister ambush party. All of them were armed with the same red and gold armor and having The Lion of Lannister on their chestplates. Each one of the Lannister soldiers coordinated and ready to fight. On the other side there were Robb's men, tired and uncoordinated soldiers, using a mix of whatever they could have grabbed in time yet filled with a determined fire, filled to the brim with hate for The Lannisters. The two were about to charge at each other, all had weapons in their hands and wearing some kind of armor.

Then, before the battle could happen, a battle horn was sounded. Everyone turned to the horizon where the sun was still rising. On the horizon an army of armored cavalry was standing there. It was at this moment Robb thought he and his army was doomed. The cavalry didn't look like they were from The North nor from The Riverlands. 'This is it... we're doomed' Robb thought to himself. However, he looked at The Lannister party and they looked as suprised as his own men were. Those weren't Lannister men, they didn't wear Westerland armor nor did they have any Westerland banners that Robb knew of. The sun blocked his view, but that was when he saw the banner...

A golden rose on a field of green.

 **Note:**

 **Alright people, chapter 50. The big five-o.**

 **Once again I can't stress my sorryness (yes Luke that's a word, you are english good, you can word good) for the lack of content in these past few weeks. Like I keep saying school is being a bitch to me and my job is so tiring that when I come back home from like 12 hours of pure work I have to study for 4 test tommorow so for one, I don't have the time, and secondly, I am really tired whenever I come home so there.**

 **I wanted this chapter to have like two other POV's (Cregan and Sansa's) and make it a 10,000 word chapter but I had you guys waiting a week for a new update and I didn't want to keep you guys waiting another two weeks for a new chapter. So yeah I'll be splitting this into two parts.**

 **This chapter was basically a catch-up on Robb's story and, once again, sorry if the romance stuff with him and Jeyne is extremely awkward and cringey but hey once again I suck at romance. Also, I'm happy to finally put this aspect of the war in the story (and if you don't know what that is by just the final sentence of this chapter then... do you even GoT brah?!). And, despite me not being good at romance, I did feel kinda nice writing the scene between Robb and Jeyne comforting each other. Last thing, if you guys notice I gave Gregor Forresters sword a name "Ironwood". Why? You ask yourselves. Well in the telltale game the greatsword is treated like an ancestral gift, passed down for every lord of Ironrath, so hence in this story it's Valyrian Steel... deal with it *YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH*.**

 **As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.**


	52. Chapter 51: The Bonds We Forge 2

**Chapter 51: The Bonds We Forge 2**

Morning had come and Cregan finally awoke from his sleep. He expected to be in pain, like every morning, but instead of pain Cregan felt a form of relief, perhaps even glee. No blood from his nose, no pale skin, no feeling of nausea or sickness, nothing. The sun rised from his window as Cregan got up from his bed, from what he could tell Cregan had been sleeping for quite some time, more than he usually would. To be fair Cregan's usual sleep time was mainly around 2 or 3 hours a night with his nightmares only shortening that sleep time, but today was not like that.

As the sun continued to only rise further and further and the sky started to gain it's blue color all Cregan could hear from outside were the sound of birds singing and the conversations, laughs and footsteps of his men from below Cregan's tower. It was strange, for all of their time spent in Harrenhall Cregan could never recall a time that his men were this happy, in all honesty though, they had very good reasons to be in high spirits. Despite him knowing that this sort of high morale would not last long, Cregan took solace in knowing that his men were not as miserable as they were just a few days ago.

Today was their last day in Harrenhall and, of course, all of the men were completely filled with both joy and relief when they received the news. Cregan got up from his bed and put on his clothes as well as his armor and weapons. First his boots, pants and tunic and after that came his boiled leather armor and his two swords that Cregan strapped to his sides, Frostbite strapped to his right and Demonsteel strapped to his left. Before leaving his room that was almost filled to the brim with destroyed furniture due to Cregan's little 'rage trip' he took one last look throughout his window that gave a good view of one side of Harrenhall.

Cregan's view showed a part of the destroyed fortress of Harrenhall. The entire part from where Cregan was looking at was completely deserted apart from the inner circles where his own men where still busy getting ready for their march forward into The Crownlands but more importantly, towards King's Landing and The Lannister family. From down below Rodrik was leading what remained of his Forrester troops and half of the remaining Bolton men while Dacey was keeping to her own men. It wasn't strange for people to be weary of The Boltons, even when their lord was already dead. With Dacey not leading the remainder of The Bolton force Cregan had to take them. In the end his force was split to Cregan's, Rodrik's and Dacey's men. Cregan's force consisted of 8,000 men, 3,000 Stark men and 5,000 Bolton men, Rodrik's force had around 4,000 men, half Forrester and half Bolton, and Dacey's force consisted of all Mormont and Stark men at around 5,000.

As he inspected his men from above Cregan could also hear the laughs of many soldiers, Stark, Mormont, Bolton and Forrester alike. Once again the news of their departure from Harrenhall proved to be a morale boost to Cregan's men. For the first time in what seemed like weeks now the sun shined on this fortress, giving a sort of strange beauty. Deep down, Cregan was happy to know that even a place as desolate, ruined and wretched like this could still have it's beauty.

After a few more moments of staring at the horizon and admiring the view, Cregan was finally satisfied as he started to walk away from the window and towards the exit of his room. As Cregan started going towards the exit he walked past many a ruined furniture piece. Scraps from broken tables and chairs were littered around the floor, holes spread across the walls and many more broken pieces were scattered through Cregan's entire room. Cregan never mind sleeping in the dirt, he spent many nights out hunting which would usually result in him having to make his own bed, meaning he was going to sleep in a hole in the dirt. Despite that though, Cregan couldn't help but admit he was glad to never be sleeping in this room anymore.

Cregan turned his head one last time towards his room before exiting through the door and going down towards the courtyard where all of his men were getting ready to march out. Climbing down the stone steps Cregan walked past many other soldiers that were still preparing, all of them stopping to bow and greet their commander. 'General' was what most of them reffered to Cregan as while Stark soldiers usually spoke to him with 'My Lord'. All the way down the steps was where both Dacey and Rodrik were waiting for Cregan, seemingly having heard all the rumaging through his room which would have meant that Cregan was finally awake.

"General..." both Rodrik and Dacey greeted him. Cregan spoke no words, he merely nodded towards both of them, acknowledging their presence as he passed Rodrik and Dacey. With Cregan both of them followed. All three were already in their armor, Cregan and Rodrik in their suit of plate and boiled leather, Dacey in her armor of leather and chainmail.

"Are all the men ready to march?" Cregan asked in his usual monotone voice.  
"Around half of the men are fully ready, the other half are still getting prepared." Rodrik reported, pointing towards all the parties that are already prepared for the march.  
"How long will it take for everyone to be prepared?" Cregan asked again, not changing a single thing with his voice and expression.  
"At the pace we're going at now... an hour, at best." Dacey joined in the conversation, her words as practical and simple as she could put it.  
"Good..." Cregan said as the three all continued to walk throughout the busy courtyard full of soldiers, all getting ready to leave this wretched fortress.

Walking through the courtyard further Cregan saw Vesemir saddling his horse with Tarkus, Rodrick, Edwyn and Lily by his side, also saddling their own horses. Unlike the rest of Cregan's men, the five weren't in any sort of northern suits which made them stick out quite glaringly. Vesemir and his companions had already packed their weapons and what seemed like a weeks worth of supplies, even though they probably weren't going to be necessary. Now that he knew where they were Cregan turned to his other two companions.

"Rodrik, Dacey, ready your men, we march at noon." Cregan said as the two nodded in unison and left to their respective group of men.

After having dealt with that, Cregan started to walk toward Vesemir and his companions. When Cregan was at hearing distance with the little group Vesemir was in the middle of a conversation with Rodrick about something when they noticed Cregan walking towards them. Rodrick went back to saddling his horse while Vesemir stayed where he was, already knowing that Cregan was coming to talk to him.

"Well Stark, fancy meeting you here." Vesemir said with a smirk, keeping to his unserious attitude.  
"Could you stop it with the sarcasm for just one second?" Cregan said in a emotionless tone.  
"You know I can't..." Vesemir's smile now grew only wider with his sentence.  
"I hate you so much." Cregan said with a sigh, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again.

"So..." Vesemir's tone and expression went slightly serious for a moment, "... I guess this is where we part ways".  
"Aye, guess it is." Cregan said as he reached his arm out towards Vesemir, "I'm counting on you Vesemir".  
"Dont worry Stark, if there's one thing I'm not good at, it's disappointing people." Vesemir said confidently as he grabbed Cregan's hand.  
"For once I hope your right." Cregan didn't seem encouraged by Vesemir's confident words but still, he kept a constant neutral face.

The two then took a couple steps back as Vesemir turned around and mounted his horse. Strapping FlameSinger to his side Vesemir turned his head one last time to Cregan. "Try not to die Stark, I would hate to have to explain myself to your family afterwards." Vesemir said in a much happier tone than just a few moment ago. Cregan didn't say a word, he only nodded in response and for a moment Vesemir's eyes widened as the smallest hint of a smile started to form on Cregan's face. Seeing that made the old man snicker and smirk once more, even if it did seem strange to Cregan.

"The next time we see each other Stark, drinks are gonna be on me." Vesemir said before finally pulling the reins of his horse and breaking it into a gallop as he and his companions rode out through one of Harrenhalls many gates and exits. Once the dust had settled and the five had left, Cregan was standing alone while at the same time surrounded by his men who were running all through the courtyard to gather their equipment, ready their supplies as well as readying their horses for the march.

 **Harrenhall, Inner Courtyard, Two Hours Later...**

As the day was slowly passing by all Cregan did was stand at sides and watch his men putting on their armor and strapping on their swords, axes and maces. It was not the most exhilirating thing to watch but apart from that, nothing in this damn fortress showed even a sign of life. While watching his men Cregan could see some of them occasionaly taking out their mugs, pouring a cup of ale and toasting to their final comrades as one last sign of respect for the ones who had fallen in this wretched place. It was not the most humble sign of respect but Cregan took solace in knowing that not just he remembers the people who were lost in defending Harrenhall.

Cregan continued to stand at the sides, leaning on the wall of the inner courtyard, when he felt a sudden tug on his cloak. He turned his head down to see a familiar face, Sif, looking up at Cregan with his one remaining good eye. Seeing his direwolf made Cregan's day immediately. "Hey boy, where've you been?" Cregan asked as he knelt down and scratched Sif's ear making the direwolf nuzzle his head on Cregan's hand. As he continued to scratch the direwolf's head Cregan could see a person in a full black robe slowly walking towards both him and Sif.

"General..." an soft, elderly voice came from behind Sif. Cregan looked past Sif to see Qyburn being the one behind his direwolf. "It is good to see your wounds have fully healed General." Qyburn said as he bowed respectfully towards Cregan even if the bow was not handled with much grace due to the ex-maesters old age. The moment Cregan realised it was Qyburn who was behind his wolf he stood back on his feet.

"Maester Qyburn..." Cregan spoke to him, reffering to the old man as a maester despite him knowing that was not the truth. Everyone in Harrenhall knew of how Qyburn was banished from The Citadel after apparently being caught doing rather 'inhumane' experiments. The two have already had a conversation about this certain topic and Qyburn had always justified it with doing it all in the search for 'greater wisdom'. While all the reports were not completely clear on what Qyburn was doing Cregan did have a strange respect for the old man's pursuit of knowledge.

"I am suprised you haven't left already." Cregan said, his tone for once showing suprise.  
"Well, I had thought about it." the ex-maester said in his usual soft and elderly tone.  
"But?" Cregan already knew that Qyburn seemed to have other motives in mind.  
"But, after giving some thought into it, I wanted to offer you my services." Qyburn said, slightly bowing his head.

In truth Cregan was suprised by the offer, he had not expected it, not at all. Having a maester in his force would be more than beneficial but having not expected this Cregan didn't have time to truly think about what would be better for his army. A maester with medical experience would give Cregan and his men a better advantage after every battle. Without Qyburn there would have surely been dozens more casualties after the defense of Harrenhall. If Qyburn was to go with Cregan's force then they would have a maester ready to patch up the wounds of their injured, if Cregan was to decline Qyburn's service then, in truth, he didn't know what would happen.

"Very well Maester, I accept your offer." Cregan finally answered with Sif coming to his side as he said it.

When he heard that, the maesters elderly face slightly lit up as he bowed once again towards Cregan. "Thank you General, I had already packed everything, I promise you that I will not get in your way." Qyburn said with his words, for once, being much faster spoken while still retaining their old and elderly tone that came out from Qyburn's voice.

Just then, a Stark soldier came running towards Cregan. "General!" he shouted out at Cregan, making him turn around sharply towards him. Only when he looked at the soldier did Cregan realise it was still a young lad, around twenty, maybe even younger. While analyzing the soldiers movements Cregan could tell that he was both panicking and also in a hurry, for what, Cregan didn't know. The boy wasn't wearing a helmet so Cregan could see his face full of sweat, a sign of how fast the boy had actually been running.

"What is it? Are we under attack?" Cregan asked, his tone being the complete opposite to the soldiers, calm and collected.  
"I don't know General..." the soldier replied through his heavy breathing, another sign of his tiredness.  
"What do you mean you don't know?" Cregan once again asked, narrowing his eyes towards the boy.  
"There are soldiers in front of our gates, wanting to speak with you." the soldier explained.  
"Speak with me... why? Are they Northerners or Riverlanders?" Cregan continued his little investigation.  
"They are none of our men General, they seem to be Southern from the looks of them." the soldier said, finally catching his breath.

"Very well then... let us speak." Cregan said as the soldier started to lead him back to where this mysterious army appeared from. All the way there Cregan saw his men readying their weapons, chaos quickly ensued from how the sudden news of an army at their doorstep came to them. The further they walked and the closer they came to the gates Cregan could see more and more troops getting ready for combat. On the way Cregan saw the older captain with the scars that led his men during the defense of Harrenhall.

"General, what are we going to do?" the captain asked as he started to follow behind Cregan.

"I want archers up the wall and infantry ready at the gates." Cregan ordered before continuing, "Have crossbows at the sides of the wall and bowmen straight above from the gate. Make the spearmen form a blockade straight in front of the gates and any man with a sword, axe or hammer behind them." with all those orders the captain followed instantly, ordering all the current men at the gate to Cregan's own orders. When they finally made it in front of the gate half of their archers had already been positioned at the walls. Cregan turned towards the captain as he stood right in front of the gates, "When I got open these gates and go through you will close them immediately, understood?", to that order both the captain's and the soldiers eyes widened extremely.

"B-But General you will be right in front of our enemy..." the captain tried to disencourage Cregan, but to no avail.  
"Exactly, that's my plan." Cregan stated as bluntly as possible.  
"General, what if they attack you? We won't be able to open the gates for you in time." the captain once again argued.

As he said that, Cregan took a step closer to the captain and was now right in front of him. "You will close the gates behind me the moment I go through, when I am outside you will keep those gates closed until I say you open them again. I can take care of the soldiers if they attack me, but if they get through the gate then you are all dead. Am, I, Understood?" Cregan said, his voice low, his face expresionless yet his presence as menacing as it could be. The captain could say nothing at the sight in front of him, he only nodded in response and finally agreed with Cregan's orders.

Before he went through the gates Cregan looked down to see Sif still following beside him. Sif was looking at him with the same stare he had just a few minutes ago when they reunited. "You stay here Sif..." Cregan said, ordering his direwolf to stay behind. He worried what would happen to him if he was in the chaos as well, losing Sif was something Cregan couldn't handle. To his order Sif whimpered for a moment before being shut down immediately by Cregan's stare, making him become silent.

And so Cregan opened the gates and went through them, as soon as his back was turned to them the gates were closed shut. Cregan spent two seconds checking if Frostbite and Demonsteel were still beside him, which they were. While he was glad to see his swords were still at his side the only thing Cregan could focus on now was the massive host of soldiers in front of Cregan. Just from what he could see there were already around 10,000 soldiers, all cavalry, in front of him. Cregan could handle a few horsemen, he had done it before, even on foot, but an army of 10,000 cavalry was something even he couldn't handle.

When he entered through the gates Cregan expected an army of Lannister men in front of him, instead he saw not the Red and Gold of House Lannister but knights of almost a rainbow of colors. Blue, Green, Yellow, all kinds of colors filled Cregan's eyes as the knights all formed up in front of him. While the whole thing was a spectacle, the only thing Cregan focused on was the knight that was leading them. A man in full steel plate armor and a milk white stallion. To his side a man carrying a banner whose coat of arms Cregan could instantly recognise.

It was the Golden Rose on a field of green, the coat of arms of House Tyrell.

 **Note:**

 **Alright people, Chapter 51.**

 **So this chapter had both a separation and a reunion. You guys might already know where I plan on taking Vesemir but if you don't know then you don't have to worry, it won't be a mystery for very long. I'm also happy to finally have Cregan leave Harrenhall and now have him be attacking The Crownlands as I haven't really writen any full on battle scenes in the open. Usually I just write a one on one battle, a small group battle, a sparring match or a siege but with Cregan going towards the capital now you all can rest assured that there are going to be a LOT more full scale battles (Very fitting seeing as what happened on this weeks episode of GoT).**

 **Also, I wanted to ask you all. Do you guys prefer longer chapters with larger gaps in update times or shorter chapters with much quicker updates? I am genuinely curious because I don't know how long I should make these chapters. Some could be around 3,000 words, some could be 7,000 words. Tell me what you guys think.**

 **P. S. I can finally say this with pride knowing what happened on this weeks episode 9 of GoT... ahem...**

 **FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU RAMSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY**

 **As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.**


	53. Chapter 52: Growing Strong

**Chapter 52: Growing Strong**

The moment they entered the room Loras closed the door behind them. Willas, Garlan, Margaery, Loras and their grandmother were now all in a solitary room together. Margaery and Loras had not even taken a moment to rest from their journey here so, understandably, both were still quite dizzy and weary from their travel to Highgarden. When the doors closed Margaery and her grandmother immediately took a seat on the nearby chairs while Garlan, Willas and Loras were still standing straight on their feet, something that was proving to be difficult for Willas due to his broken leg.

"Loras, Margaery, now that we're alone can you tell us what's with all this secrecy?" their grandmother was the first to break the silence.

Margaery stayed silent, her eyes half-open and her palms resting on her lap, everything about her was only showing off how little sleep she actually had. Loras was acting the same as his sister, keeping silent, instead of talking and doing nothing however Loras walked over to his grandmother and handed out the letter he was keeping in his pocket. When he gave her the letter The Queen of Thorns, instead of opening it immediately, inspected the letter first. The moment she saw that no sigil sealed the letter Ollena's eyes instantly narrowed. Instead of a sigil, the only thing keeping the letter closed was a crimson red wax seal.

Loras himself didn't know about the contents of the letter. All those months ago when Cregan had first given it to Loras he had told him that the letter was for Ollena's eyes only, so Loras respected his friends wishes. While he was curious, Loras knew better than to doupt Cregan, he had made those mistakes many times in the past. While he couldn't read the letter, Loras did tell Margaery about it who, while sharing in her brothers curiousoty or perhaps even more than Loras, didn't even bother with the letter after she had heard about it.

"Who gave you this letter Loras?" his grandmothers question snapped Loras from his thoughts.

"Cregan did..." Loras quickly answered, looking at his grandmother to see if it would trigger any sort of reaction from her. While he was not the smartest one of his siblings, Loras still knew how to manipulate a conversation into triggering a reaction. Despite that however, Loras's words did not even faze through his grandmothers defense as Ollena kept a constant neutral expression. While Ollena kept inspecting the entirity of the letter everyone just stared at her with anticipation to what exactly their grandmother was so keen on looking at.

"Grandmother, what does the letter say?" Margaery was the first to speak up in the room.

As she said that Ollena turned her head towards Margaery, softening her gaze a bit but not too much. Their grandmother said nothing as she got up from the chair she was sitting on. Everyone was once again staring at Ollena with anticipation at what she was seemingly going to say. That fact made it even more suprising when their grandmother suddenly ripped the letter in half. "It doesn't matter now..." Ollena finally spoke as she continued to rip the letter apart. All Willas, Garlan, and Loras could do was look at their grandmother in both confusion and shock, Loras being the one who was most shocked. Of course the reason Ollena ripped the letter apart could be because Cregan meant what he had said, the letter was for her eyes and nobody elses.

"Grandmother what are you-" Willas, being the most sensible of them all, tried to speak up only to be interrupted by Ollena.  
"What was in the letter doesn't matter now..." Ollena repeated herself, only this time speaking in a much lower and serious tone.

Seeing his grandmother so serious made Loras worry. Very little things could make their grandmother act like this and for just a simple letter to achieve this... something else was going on. The letter was now nothing but small scraps as their grandmother threw those scraps through an open window in the room. Now that she had thrown the letter away, Ollena once again turned to face her grandchildren. Loras was completely confused at what was happening while Garlan and Margaery seemed to share in his confusion however, from his expression, Willas seemed to be the only one to have caught on.

"I know all of you are confused right now..." Ollena started, causing everyone to raise their eyebrows a bit, "... and I hope I will be able to answer your question one day." to her words everyone just became even more confused, but they still continued to listen to their grandmother. "Right now we have other things to focus on. Renly is dead, Stannis is dead and our last way to The Crown has been cut off." at that moment, Loras noticed his sisters expresion immediately turn as serious as it could be, something he didn't see all to often. "The Lannisters currently control both The Westerlands and The Crownlands with an army of 65,000 as well as almost thousands of mercenary groups." Ollena's face immediately turned grim, her tone not even hiding how she felt about the whole situation. "If we are to have any chance of surviving this then there are only two options for us: Side with The Lannisters or go against them."

"We are not siding with The Lannisters." Margaery immediately interrupted her grandmother as she stood up from her chair.  
"Even if we go to war The Lannisters still overpower us by numbers alone." Garlan finally spoke up, joining the conversation.  
"Most of their army consists of sellswords, their loyalty can be easily bought." Loras explained, also joining in on the conversation.  
"No, we can't squander our resources, especially if we want to survive after this war." Willas said, limping a few steps forward.

As the three Tyrell brothers continued to argue about what they should do now, Margaery and her grandmother only looked on at the scene, getting more and more annoyed with every second that passed. Margaery seemed to be getting the most annoyed as all of them were clearly missing their best option, and Ollena knew about it as well. "Are you three honestly forgetting about our other option?!" Margaery finally had enough of listening to her brothers arguing as he yell made Willas, Garlan and Loras all shut up at the same time, turning their head immediately towards Margaery.

"I'm honestly suprised none of you had even thought about it." Ollena said with a grin, finally going back to her usual non-chalant attitude. All eyes then went from Margaery to Ollena. Loras and Garlan looked at their grandmother in pure confusion while Willas, who was probably the only one to catch on with what his sister and grandmother was saying, looked at Ollena with both silent agreement and anticipation. "The Lannisters have arguably the largest military force in this war, even we don't have enough numbers to take them on. But we aren't the only ones in the middle of this war." just then, Loras finally figured out what both his sister and grandmother were saying as did Garlan from what Loras could tell from his expression. While Loras and Garlan had suprised expressions Willas and Margaery kept their faces constant and neutral.

"The Starks are also fighting against The Lannisters and currently haven't even lost a single battle." Margaery spoke before her grandmother could continue.  
"That may be the case but they aren't fighting just for revenge, The Starks are fighting for independence." Willas immediately argued his point.  
"And that's worse than siding with another mad king, maybe one that's even worse?" their grandmother said, her tone completely calm and collected.  
"Grandmother I understand but we have to consider every possible option in this situation." Willas continued to try and argue his point.

"If we don't decide where we stand now then we are letting Cregan die!" Margaery shouted out, her anger and annoyance finally being let out on her older brother. "Forget about everything else and just see it this way, if we side with The Lannisters then we are leaving both Cregan and his family to die, if we don't side with anyone then The Lannisters will just go after us when they are done with The Starks, at least this way we have a chance to beat them, a chance to help all of us!" she continued to let out all her rage, constantly yelling at her older brothers.

All Willas, Garlan and Loras could do was look at their sister in shock. Margaery had never showed so much emotion like she had just now but even by how unexpected it was, everyone knew the reason why she was acting like this or rather, the person for why she was acting like this. While the brothers stood silent, all Ollena could do was quietly laugh at her granddaughters emotional outburst.

"I thought I had taught you better than this Margaery." Ollena said, keeping her grin the whole time. "But nevertheless, you have a point. Cregan is as much a part of our family as he is a part of his, and what are we if we leave our own family to die alone in a war." Loras could help but agree with his grandmothers words and from their expressions, Garlan and Willas also agreed.

"Alright..." Garlan spoke up, crossing his arms and leaning on a nearby wall before speaking again, "... then what do you propose, we march our armies to Casterly Rock? Perhaps to King's Landing itself? I don't mind a good fight but I would like to at least know we have a chance in a winning a battle." Garlan's words visibly angered Margaery, who at this point probably didn't care about any sort of military politics or anything else of the sort. "If we march to Casterly Rock we lay siege to one of the most inpenetrable fortresses in Westeros, if we march to King's Landing then we are laying siege to a city able to hold a siege for almost 2 years, and I think we all know how a prolonged siege affects a war." Garlan noted, mentioning their families massively long siege during Robert's Rebellion.

"We don't have to openly attack them right away." Loras stated, making all eyes go to him. "Margaery is right, it's only if we side with The Starks that we have a chance of winning this but it's only if we fight alongside them that we have a chance of surviving after the war." to his words Garlan couldn't help but agree with his little brother, Loras could have been imagining it but for a second he saw Garlan almost give him a proud smile. "If you want my opinion then let us gather our forces and march to help The Starks, not by attacking The Lannisters directly, but by helping their armies in the war."

After Loras had told his part the whole room stood silent. Ollena, Margaery, Willas, Garlan, Loras, all of them were now standing in complete silence until, finally, Willas had let out a sigh to contract the silence. "Alright then, I think we all know what we are going to do..." Willas said, slowly limping right in the middle of the room for all of them to be able to fully see him.

"Garlan, Loras, you two should get some rest... in two days, you ride North."

 **Note:**

 **Yes people, this was a flashback chapter.**

 **I mainly wrote this to explain why The Tyrells went to help The Starks instead of The Lannisters as well as showing off a bit more of what they think about Cregan. Something that I wanted to show off is that, despite them all loving Cregan, Loras and Margaery are the Tyrells who were closest to him as well as care about him the most. Despite my writer's block, I still did enjoy writing this chapter but not only did my writer's block/lazyness make it hard for me to write this but, as I was writing this chapter, I watched the finale for season 6... you can tell I was a bit upset. To show you how upset I really was, let me show you my reaction to episode 10 in general:**

 **What I was saying: "Well that sucked what happened in King's Landing but overall that finale was awesome and probably one of the better finales in the show."**

 **What I was actually thinking: "WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK *que massive explosion*."**

 **As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.**


	54. Chapter 53: The Outcasts

**Chapter 53: The Outcasts**

The light shined from the candles as the wind howled outside the tavern. Many of the people in the tavern were drinking their days away, as well as their fears. Ever since the ironborn had invaded everyone in The North was absolutely terrified. All of The Northern army had gone off South to fight a war and while there are some soldiers left in The North they aren't nearly as plentyfull as the ironborn. At this news all the smallfolk started to panic. Whoever could wield a weapon immeadiately started to gather their tools that were usually meant for farming and were now forced to use them as weapons to defend themselves.

The ironborn were always known for their raiding and pillaging. Ever since the days of Harren The Black they had been a thorn in Westeros's side, raiding and pillaging wherever they want. The most recent event with the ironborn was The Greyjoy rebellion where, once again, the ironborn thought they could gain independence and take advantage of a torn Westeros. Now, the same Greyjoy once again proclaims himself 'The King of The Iron Islands'. Alongside the coast of The Norths western coast, ironborn have been reaving, raiding, plundering and capturing Northern villages and strongholds. They have already taken Last Hearth and Moat Cailin, possibly the two most important fortresses in The North next to Winterfell. Last Hearth was important for it being the home to the second most powerfull house in The North while Moat Cailin was important because of it's position as a basic entrance and exit for all off The North.

Needless to say, many people had already gotten worried of ironborn raiding their homes and raping their wives and daughters, taking them as their 'saltwives' if they are pretty enough. To add in the northernes worry, Roose Boltons bastard and his little company had taken over Winterfell. 'The Bastard Boys' as they called themselves. Of course this caused even more distress with the northerners, if not for the fact that the ancestral home of House Stark had gotten capturen then for the fact that most of The Northern lords such as Lord Manderly and Lord Reed have gotten captured by The Bolton bastard.

The entire tavern had been silent, despite the many people who were currently drinking in it. Most of the people drinking were either with their friends or just mingling with other tennants, most people. While others tried to find comfort with either the bottom of their cup or by trying to find any luck with a serving girl, which would usually end up in them having half of their face red from a slap, Kennat only drank alone at the stand.

Despite the usual crowd being in the tavern, the mood was clearly different. Some tried to hide their fears as they laughed and joked, breaking the current silence. Others simply talked with the serving girls, hoping they would get something out of it besides a random grope that would result in them getting slapped. Of course if these were different people then the entire mood would be completely different. Kennat himself tried to keep away from everyone, drinking far away from the now currently drunk tennants of the tavern. The gropes were really nothing more than a bit of harmless fun that would bring some laughs and add at least a little levity to the tavern.

The taverns staff also couldn't help but indulge in adding levity to the situation. The serving girls understood everything and, while still hitting anyone who tried to grab them, mainly just laughed it off. There were four serving girls all together, Sarah and Gabi, the brown-haired twins, Beka, the most ...active... of the serving girls, and the last of the serving girls, little Mia, the tavern keepers granddaughter. The tavern keeper himself was an elderly man in his late fifties, not too old from Kennat himself.

From the silence was now a sort of laughter, if you could call it that. Most people were now completely drunk and their senses dulled, from the entire tavern Kennat and the staff must have been the only ones not completely drunk, although Beka was stumbling quite a lot, more than usual anyways. The japes and laughs lasted for a couple hours, long into the night, until finally, it was time for everyone to go back home and pray to whatever God they have for those homes to not be burned down during the night.

After everyone had left the serving girls had also started to go home. Sarah and Gabi were the first ones to leave and after the two Beka also stumbled out the tavern, mumbling her farewells along the way. _'How much can that woman drink on the job'_ Kennat thought to himself. Out of all the serving girls Mia was the last to leave, as always, but in the end she said farewell to her grandfather as well as Kennat before going home.

"So I'm guessing you're staying another night then?" the tavern keeper asked as the two were now the only ones left.  
"You've been asking me that same question for 15 years now Faren." Kennat replied, chugging down what was left of his drink.  
"And in those 15 years you still haven't payed 14 years worth of gold for drinks and rooms." Faren joked, reffiling Kennat's drink in the process.  
"That's true friend... and one day I will." Kennat said as Faren handed him his cup.  
"Hah... that will surely be the day when the world ends." Fared once again joked, leaning on the stand.

The two continued to joke and laugh, although it was Faren who was mostly doing both. The conversation last for almost half an hour before eventually leading up to them talking about Winterfell, The Boltons and The Starks, a topic which Kennat himself was dreading to talk about for his own personal reasons.

"I understand how you southerners don't share our love for The Starks like we do but it is a bit cruel of you to not even worry for the two boys." Faren said, cleaning off the final cup that Kennat had finished. In truth, Faren was right, but once again, Kennat had his own reasons for not even worrying for the two youngest Starks.

"Believe me Faren, you haven't seen the things I have, there are thousands of worse fates than being flayed... trust me, I know." Kennat said as he struggled to get up from his seat in front of the stand. To his words Faren was visibly upset, something that most northerners would be when someone would talk ill of The Starks. Kennat had never understood while all The North loved The Starks so much, whenever he would ask Faren or any other northener they would usually just talk about how The Starks had ruled this realm for centuries. 'When a Stark rules The North, every single man, woman, and child can feel safe under their rule.' was also something they would usually say.

"Anyways... I do hope that young Lord Umber and The Greyjoy boy can save them." Faren said, avoiding Kennat's last sentence.  
"Robb Stark sent men to save them?" Kennat asked, his curiosity now peaked as he raised his eyebrows.  
"Aye, but word is they have been stalled by ironborn in Moat Cailin." Faren started to explain, much to Kennat's curiosity.

 _'Perhaps these two boys can still be of some use to me...'_

 **Triston's POV**

 **The Riverlands, Riverrun, Late Afternoon...**

After an intense day of training Triston was happy he could finally have a moment to himself. _'Why do Starks have a tendency of exhausting me to the point of passing out?'_ he thought to himself as he rested his shortsword on the little table before collapsing on top of his bed and slowly sinking between the pillow at the head of his bed. When he was first assigned to being Cregan's squire Triston was honestly terrified. He had always heard stories of 'The Demon of The North' that would brutally maine and murder his victims. Those stories only terrified Triston more when he had actually seen Cregan. A massive man with scars, scratches and wounds all across his body accompanied by an equally intimidating direwolf in both size as well as scars.

Triston was suprised however when he found out who Cregan truly was. A stern man, in reality, but a fair one at that. In the weeks they spent in King's Landing Cregan had mainly focused on training with Triston. This suprised him to no end, for years Triston had been used to merely carrying around armor and weapons and to be fair Cregan did still make Triston carry things around but not as much as other knights would. All those training sessions were extremely tiresome however and would usually end up with Triston lying on the ground, completely covered in sweat. Those training sessions continued with Cregan's younger sister Arya when Cregan left to fight the war. One would think that the man's own little sister would not exhaust Triston but sadly that was not what happened.

While he truly did enjoy Arya's company as well as her being more than friendly with him, something Triston really wasn't used to, the youngest Stark girl proved to be incredibly durable in training. While he and Arya sparred Triston always tried his best to keep up with her in terms of fighting and skill but in the end, it seems the two were more or less evenly matched. Triston was fast and able to keep up with Arya's quick and precise strikes, thanks to Cregan's intense training he had also gained some strength as well as durability, making him be able to last longer in a fight.

Triston realised how lucky he was for being named a squire for Cregan, but a part of him always wished for his old mentor to be back. The knight that had saved his life, the one who guided him through his youth and taught him everything he knew. Ser Devan was by far the kindest man Triston had ever met, and the closest thing to a father he had in this world. Not knowing who your mother and father are takes a toll on a child, both phisically and mentally. If not for old Ser Devan, Triston doupted he could have even lived to two years olds. All of those things made Triston's grief even larger when the old knight died, and then Triston was alone again.

The more Triston thought, the more he got sleepy, the more he got sleepy, the less his exhaustion became noticable. Slowly Triston continued to drift off to sleep, the soft matress of his bed making him fall asleep even faster. Eventually Triston couldn't even focus anymore, he closed his eyes, and slowly his conciousness drifted away.

 **A Few Hours Later...**

"AAAAAAGH..." a scream immediately woke Triston up, almost making him jump out of his bed. From his window he saw some strange light, as if the sun was already rising. In truth, Triston didn't know how much he slept, it could have been a few minutes, it could have been a few hours. Only when Triston got up from his bed and ran to the window did he see what was really happening.

Looking out through the window Triston saw the Riverrun stables set ablaze and down in the courtyard Riverrun's garrison, what little there was left of them, were fighting off enemies. The enemy didn't wear any Lannister colors, all of them wore chainmail with simple white patterns, nothing more. That was when Triston realised it, 'Mercenaryes...' he thought to himself. In truth that was the most plausable assumption. The Lannisters themselves could only raise aroudn 50 thousand levies and in the war they had already lost more than half of that number, their only safety net were their gold mines. All of these mercenaryes were probably hired by The Lannisters and now they were attacking Riverrun from within. The question now was how could they get in to Riverrun unnoticed.

But now was not the time for speculation. _'Arya...'_ was his first thought when he saw the battleground below. Triston then immediately ran for his shortsword that was still placed on the small table. The moment he reached his sword and unsheathed it the door burst open. From the door came a man in full chainmail with a white surcloak. The man was taller and noticabely stronger than Triston so this could prove to be a challenge but he was confident in his abilities.

The mercenary instantly charged at Triston, swinging his broadsword at Triston's head. In response, Triston ducked under the broadswords swing, aimed it at the mans chest, and thrust his shortsword forward. Normally, doing this would be almost impossible with armor but given it was chainmail there only needs to be enough strength and precision to puncture through the initial resistance. 'All armor has it's own flaws, strike at the certain points if you really want to go through your enemies defense' Cregan's words echoed through Triston's mind as his blade passed through his enemies chainmail and punctured the man through his chest.

Blood slowly dripped onto Triston's shoulder as the man who was just a few moments ago trying to kill him currently was coughing up blood. The blood only spread further as Triston pulled back his sword and the mercenary dropped to the ground, his blood slowly spreading across the floor and onto Triston's boots. 'Good thing I was too tired to take these off...' Triston thought to himself jokingly in an attempt to mask his own shock at what had just happened. There was not time for processing however as another cry of pain snapped Triston back to reality.

That was when he was reminded, The Starks are in danger. Finally having his senses about him Triston immediately ran out of his room and went to Arya's, her room being the closest to his own. As he ran throughout the halls of Riverrun Triston ran past dozens of soldiers fighting for their lives but more importantly, trying to protect Lady Catelyn, Sansa and Arya. After what seemed like hours of running Triston had finally reached Arya's room. The door had been closed and from what he could hear there seemed to be struggling in the room. Knowing this Triston knocked down the door by kicking it open and as the door swung open Triston finally saw what was causing all the noise.

Inside the room was Arya, holding her sword Needle as well as a small pocket knife, standing in the middle of a pile of bodies, all of them being dead. Her sword, pocket knife and clothes were covered in blood, from what Triston could see in the room, none of the blood was hers. Arya was clearly out of breath as she was struggling for air. She regained her breath when she saw Triston at the door, looking at her in both shock and slight amazement. Triston was barely able to take on the one mercenary that attacked him yet Arya was able to take out what seemed to be five or six completely armed soldiers with nothing but a pocket knife and an extremely pointy blade.

"What?" Arya asked him, trying to play it off as if it was nothing.

Triston could then see her struggling to just stay on her feet but even so, Arya stood completely straight, not even resting on anything. For a moment, a genuine smile appeared on both of their faces, as if this was some kind of harmless joke or a punchline to a bad pun.

 _'Gods, she truly is amazing.'_

 **Note:**

 **Alright I swear I have a good explanation to why I have kept these new chapters weeks apart from updating. You ready for it... so here it is:**

 **Since I got home from Georgia and my sisters wedding me, my girlfriend, and a couple of friends have been setting up a little mini road trip in where we all traveled to Vegas and basically partied our brains out until we were all in the middle of the desert with no pants and just bags of money (shoutout to anyone who gets the reference). But in all seriousness though, me going to Vegas was just the reason for keeping these chapters apart... please don't shoot me.**

 **Well now that that's over with let's get on to Chapter 53.**

 **In this chapter we were introduced to a pretty big character and if you guys have read my other story A Worthy King you will have gotten a small glimpse of Kennat. He will eventually be a pretty average appearing character that will eventually lead up to a much bigger plot but for now I am using him as a means to show off what was happening in The North during this entire war because we haven't been there since I think Chapter 9 or 10 so yeah. In the show and books the main majority of The North during The Clash of King is handled through Bran's POV but since he is not AS MUCH of an important character in this story then I haven't added his POV yet... YET.**

 **Remember the words with Bran being AS MUCH, remember that people. I don't want people who have Bran as their favorite character freak out all of a sudden but to anyone who is too lazy to read through these Authors Notes then I have just three words for you guys...**

 **Hold The Door**

 **Also if you think the end of this chapter is a little off with Triston and Arya just smiling and saying "lol yeah I just killed some people haha..." then don't worry. Next chapter we are going to have the conclusion to Robb and Cregan's POV as well as the conclusion of The Battle at Riverrun.**

 **As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.**


	55. Chapter 54: New Bonds

**Chapter 54: New Bonds**

Throughout Riverrun the only thing that could be heard was the clash of steel followed by countless cries and screams from both men and women alike. Sparks flew throughout the air as many buildings seemingly combusted and the flames started to dance around them. All of these things didn't matter however as Sansa could feel herself losing breath, and fast. An armored man pushed her against the wall and slowly started to choke the life out of her. The more Sansa struggled the harder he would press his hands around her neck. Every time Sansa tried to push back, the man would slam her against the wall once more.

 _'No... I'm not...'_ even her thoughts couldn't conjure up coherent sentences. With every second that passed, Sansa felt her eyes rolling back from lack of breath in her lungs. In a last ditch effort Sansa tried to look around to see if she can find anything to help her escape. To the right was nothing but a window and curtains but to her left was a small table. The table itself wasn't important but what was on the table could just save Sansa's life. A thin knife usually used for opening sealed letters, sadly, now it's going to be used for opening up something else.

Sansa reached her hand over to the table and was just barely able to grab the knife.

The moment her hand reached the knife, almost out of instinct, Sansa immediately thrusted the knife into the armored man's gut. Thankfully, the man really didn't wear any armor except for a simple iron helmet, the rest was just makeshift leather that looked like it would have broken off in just a few days. Once she stabbed the man with the knife Sansa tried to swing the knife to the left in an attempt to add some more damage to his guts but it failed. The armored man pushed Sansa towards the wall once again, this time however he wasn't holding her by her throat causing her to slightly turn and hit the top of her head slightly.

The now wounded man was staggering slightly, trying to stop his bleeding while Sansa herself couldn't help but feel dizzy since she was hit in the head just now. However, being dizzy was nothing compared to losing blood as Sansa quickly retaliated by thristing the same knife into the man's throat. Thankfully, the man's helmet didn't protect his neck as Sansa easily stabbed through the skin and into the man's throat.

Blood quickly started to gurgle up the man's throat. As he coughed up blood in a desperate attempt on not choking to death all the blood got on Sansa face, completely covering her right cheek and lower jaw. After fully thrusting the knife through the armored man's neck, so much so that the tip of the knife was pointing out the other side, Sansa pulled out the knife, causing the man to fall on the floor, desperately trying to gather some air until he finally went limp and lifeless. The corpse was laying down in front of Sansa, completely lifeless as more and more blood poured from the two stab-holes from where Sansa had attacked him.

As the corpse lied there however, Sansa couldn't help but feel herself getting sick. Sansa grabbed her stomach as she fell on her knees. When the man had pushed against the wall he also had punched her in the stomach, the force making her almost throw up everything she ate. She didn't notice it at first as all the blood was seemingly returning to her head during the time but right now all Sansa could do was sit there on the verge of throwing up. All the blood that he had coughed up on Sansa's face was now dripping down onto her white nightgown. Her whole face was almost completely covered in blood and the top right half of her nightgown was also draped in the same blood.

 _'I have to get up...'_ she thought to herself, painfully trying to get back on her feet as her throat almost choked up and Sansa started to violently cough, falling right back on her knees. Despite that however, Sansa didn't stop trying to get back up but sadly to no avail. At least not until two other armored men stormed into Sansa's room, swords in hand.

Sansa leaned back on the wall that she was being chocked on just a few moments ago, it took all the strength left in her arms for Sansa to get back on her feet and stand even remotely straight. The two armored men immediately stumbled back a step or two when they saw the dead corpse of their supposed comrade or brother in arms. Both of them started to slowly approach Sansa as she was currently pointing the same knife she used to stab the first armored man at the two new supposed mercenaryes. With each new step the men would take Sansa would point the knife towards the man who took that step in a desperate attempt to make them back off but sadly it was useless.

She herself was struggling to just stand on her feet and only now did Sansa notice that the upper half of her head was bleeding slowly and it was currently dripping down on her left eye. "Stay back..." Sansa tried to warn the two armored men but her voice was too weak to even try to be in an intimidating tone. The two men didn't even respond to her attempt in intimidation as they only continued to take another step closer. This only continued as Sansa considered every possible option. Fight, Surrender, Run, those were all the options Sansa currently had, but in the end, all three would end in her potential death.

Then, in the last second, Sansa saw a towering figure in between the two armored men. Right now her vision was completely blurry and the only way she could distinguish the three figures were that the mercenaries were wearing white surcloaks while the taller figure seemed to be all black. Sansa used a moment to wipe the blood and sweat from her eyes to improve her vision and when she opened her eyes again Sansa saw one of the mercenaries being impaled by the black armored soldiers sword through the back.

When he saw that, the other armored mercenary turned his back to Sansa while also taking a step back from the black armored soldier. It looked like he didn't even hear him come into the room. However, this was the perfect opportunity as Sansa flung herself at the mercenary, pushing her arms from the wall she was leaning on, and impaled her knife into his throat. The mercenary wasn't prepeared for it and Sansa was able to fully puncture the man's throat with her knife as he fell on the ground, completely lifeless like his two other companions.

Finally, all current threats to her were dead and Sansa could take a breath. Well, almost all of them.

From the five bodies in this room the only two who were still breathing were Sansa and the black armored soldier. However, now that she had regained her composure, if you could even call it that, Sansa finally realised who that really was. It was a massive, almost seven foot tall man, completely equipped in full black chainmail and platemail, all but a helmet. That was the most distinguished feature, the man's face. A cold, stern and heartless face, and a half-burnt one at that. That was when Sansa figured it all out.

"Sandor Clegane I presume?" Sansa said, her voice much more collected and calm than a few moments ago.  
"And your The Demon's twin sister." Sandor Clegane said, his tone being almost mocking with the way he spoke it.

To Sandor's words Sansa squinted her eyes a bit, even though she was used to the names people would call her brother Sansa was always annoyed by how people would treat Cregan. Even people in The North like The Boltons would do this, out of mockery no less. "You speak my brothers title as if your own is something to be proud of..." Sansa said in a spiteful tone as she started to limp towards a small cabinet near her bed while Sandor only watched passively. Although he was obviously trying not to show it, Sansa could see her own words hit him to a point, at least enough to make him shut up for a few seconds and let Sansa regain her thoughts.

 _'Of course, it's as to be expected with people from The Westerlands'_ Sansa thought to herself as she reached her cabinet and started rumaging through the drawers.

"You seem to be taking this extremely well for someone who almost died girl." Sandor commented, resting his still-bloody sword on his shoulder.  
"Why shouldn't I? I'm still alive aren't I?" Sansa asked in a condescending tone, now almost mocking Sandor with her words.  
"Well what if I just came here to kill you myself, or take you for ransom?" Sandor asked sarcastically, snickering as he said his little questions.  
"You wouldn't do that..." Sansa put it bluntly like her brother often would while continuing to rummage through her drawers.  
"What makes you so sure about that girl?" Sandor asked, wiping the blood off his sword on the dead corpses he was currently standing over.

To that question Sansa didn't answer before she finally found what she was looking for. The small stilleto knife that Cregan had gave her while they were still in King's Landing. Ever since then she kept the knife in certain situations just like this one. Sansa knew that Cregan would dissaprove of her ever even thinking of killing like he would. _'I don't want you or anyone else in our family becoming like me, do you understand?'_ those were the words Cregan used so many years ago. In a time when Sansa couldn't even imagine that all of this could have happened, when the chance of this ever happening was practically unbelievable.

 _'I'm sorry brother, but right now thinking about what's right and what's wrong isn't an option for me. Hopefully you can at least understand that much.'_ Sansa thought to herself as she clutched the hilt of the knife tightly with both her hands, wiping away some of the blood that still remained on her face using the sleeve of her nightgown.

"Well, well, well, never thought a pretty little lady like you would keep a knife hidden in her drawers." Sandor mocked her once more.

Instead of responding, Sansa spun around and stared at Sandor in silence again. "You can stand there and be useless, you can attack and kill me right now or you can escape from here and drink yourself into an early grave. Join your brother in whatever special little hell The Gods make for people like you." Sansa said, her voice completely spiteful as she stood tall and looked Sandor straight in the eyes. The two actually weren't that far apart in terms of height, so she didn't even need to try and be on an equal level with him in that condition. When she spoke her last sentence however she could see Sandor's eyes light up in pure aggression.

"Carefull girl, you seem to think that your brothers don't fit into the line of killers like me!" Sandor growled at her.

"Oh I am fully aware of what my older brothers have become..." Sansa said, her voice being completely calm, a noticable difference to Sandors aggressive and booming voice. However, she wasn't done yet, "... but if you think that you are anywhere near Robb or Cregan's level then you are as delusional as you think I am, even more so." her voice was constant and clear as Sansa walked directly up to Sandors face and looked him dead in the eye. "So you listen to me Sandor, listen loud and clear..."

"... you can stay here or escape, abandon the only chance of redemption you have left and live the rest of your life however you want it, or you can follow me and take out what's left of this sorry excuse of an assasination attempt." it took every single ounce of strength in Sansa's voice to speak those words with such authoroty and force. In truth, Sansa couldn't even imagine how Robb would always speak in this kind of voice. Loud, authorotive, confident, unwavering, all of these things Sansa could barely even talk in a single sentence.

After she spoke those words Sansa didn't even wait for Sandors response as she immediately stormed out of the room, passing Sandor along the way. While she didn't hear a response, the sound of armoured footsteps following right behind her only confirmed that Sansa was able to convince Sandor into following her. Although it could have been her own imagination, Sansa could have sworn she heard Sandor grumble "Well played..." as she passed him out of the room. Now, Sansa was basically marching to her family with a one-man army beside her.

While Sansa was slightly stumbling, a constant result of when she hit her head, she was still able to walk somewhat decently, enough to at least be going in a constant speed. As the two walked throughout the halls of Riverrun, Sandor would cut down anyone trying to stand in Sansa's way, usually with little to no trouble. All the while Sansa wasn't even slowing down whenever they would encounter someone trying to stop her as Sandor would usually just run in front and kill them before they could even come close to her.

However, when she heard her mothers muffled grunts of pain through a door, Sansa stood to a halt. "What's wrong... why are you stopping?" Sandor asked as he too stopped when Sansa did. His question was answered by itself when he too heard the grunts of Sansa's mother behind a closed door that Sansa knew led to her mothers chambers. She turned to Sandor who looked at her as if waiting permision to knock the door down and Sansa just nodded in response, allowing him to do his own kind of magic.

Sandor stormed over to the door but, to give him credit, he did try to use the handle to open the door first before he found out it was barred. Only then did he kick down the door for Sansa and Sandor to see two armored men in front of Catelyn and Lyarra. Catelyn had bruises around her hands as well as a black right eye and blood slightly dripping from her lip. Sansa was shocked at her mothers appearance, but more she was suprised by how she was able to hold off two armed mercenaries. Before the two mercenaries could react however Sandor had cut them down in only a matter of seconds.

"Mother!" Sansa yelled out as she ran to her mother who could only stand there in both confusion and shock.

The moment she reached her mother Sansa wrapped her hands around Catelyn as she herself finally noticed her daughter. "Sansa... thank The Gods you're safe and sound..." Catelyn said as tears started slowly streaming down her cheeks and she too hugged her daughter in joy. However, Sansa's joy quickly faded as she saw Lyarra in the same state she was in King's Landing all those months ago. Weak, crying, shocked, stiff, everything about her showed how much this had gotten to her. It looked like Catelyn didn't even notice the state Lyarra was in until now.

Seeing the little girl in such a state made Sansa's heart shatter. She was backed against the wall, like she was only a few moments ago in her own chambers, but unlike her Lyarra was only sitting and crying there, being as insignificant as she could make herself. When the two saw this, Sansa and her mother quickly ran to Lyarra as Sandor kept guard at the door, obviously wanting to stay as far away from those kind of emotions.

"Lyarra, Lyarra sweetheart it's alright. Your safe now." Sansa tried to comfort the small little girl but sadly to not avail. As Catelyn and Sansa were kneeling down on her Lyarra could only cry her eyes out as both of them tried to continue to comfort the little girl. However, nothing they would do could calm the girls trauma.

Sansa didn't know what to do, she couldn't know what to do. So in the end, she did the only thing Sansa thought would look. She gently placed her hands on Lyarra own hands, making her look directly at her. Lyarra's eyes were red from crying and her entire face was pale once more, like when they were on the boat traveling here. It was obvious this was opening up past trauma and now the only thing Sansa could do was comfort her. The moment she saw Sansa however, Lyarra jumped and hugged the girl as she continued to cry, but hopefully now those were tears of joy. All Sansa did was hug the little girl back, carresing the top of her head gently. All the while Catelyn looked at her daughter with a warm smile as Sansa softly started to whisper into Lyarra's ears.

 _"Shh... it's alright sweetheart, nobody's going to lay a finger on you, I promise."_

 **Robb's POV**

Their battle had been won. The Lannister ambush was crushed and all the remaining survivors have been found and sent to receive tending to their wounds. Out of all the survivors it seemed like most of the lords survived and the full on casualties counted around to 3,000. It was a large number but given the circumstances it could have been far worse. However, speaking of circumstances, it seemed like Robb had been blessed as the timing of their saviors could not have been at a better time, as well as who his saviors were.

The Tyrells had come to their rescue, killing off what was left of The Lannister party that had attacked and in turn saving Robb's men. A force combining to around 50,000 heavily armed, battle ready and high spirited soldiers all following under the banner of someone who was supposedly Robb's ally now, the man who led all those knights was Ser Garlan Tyrell, someone who Cregan had told him held up chivalry and honor like a true knight. If that was the case, then Robb doupted he would do this just so he could stab him and his men in the back later on.

Both Robb and Garlan stood opposite of each other in the middle of the camp, both of their men watching closely to see how this 'negotiation' would go down.

"King Robb" Garlan greeted.  
"Ser Garlan" Robb greeted.

"Seeing our situation, I must offer you my thanks for coming to our rescue." Robb said, trying to show his gratitude while keeping an authorotive tone.  
"Judging from what I had heard of people from The North I believe that you would have done the same if the roles were reversed." Garlan said humbly.  
"Yes I guess we would. However, it is because of the situation I am still suspicious on why you DID save us." Robb retorted, still being slightly suspicious.

To Robb's words Garlan let out a slight sigh as well as a chuckle. "I mean no disrespect Your Grace but there exist honorable people outside of The North. In The Reach there's is no trait more distinguishable than honor and chivalry, much like your customs in The North, just without the chivalry." while Garlan spoke his words Robb couldn't help but feel at least a bit convinced by his words, just a bit however.

"No... the most distuinguishable traits in The Reach are farming and culture, nothing more, nothing less." Robb put it bluntly.

Garlan once again smiled lightly as he saw that Robb wouldn't fall for his lie, as much as it showed that Garlan believed every word he said. "Very well then Your Grace..." Garlan started, "... I will be blunt with you. We are not doing this out of the pure kindness of our hearts, we are doing this for pure survival. I assure you that we have no love for The Lannisters nor for The Westerlands therefore an alliance with them could have been an option for us, but there was never even a discussion to see if we would consider that option. Since we sided with Renly there wasn't really any chance for us to stay neutral either since we would eventually become targets if they had taken care of you. Your Grace, this is no move to earn your trust, this is a move for the survival of both our houses."

"So what do you say Your Grace..." Garlan said as he reached out his hand, "... do you trust us?"

Robb stood in silence and contemplated the decision for a moment. Every single word Garlan had just said were completely genuine and now it was up to Robb to decide if the knight was truly worth trusting. Without these men, Robb's forces are as good as dead, but there is always the chance of betrayal. However, Cregan had spent almost ten years with The Tyrells, from what he had told him they were all legitimately good people and what little political reasons they have for doing this, everything eventually led up to them doing this for pure survival reasons.

"Very well Ser Garlan, I trust you."

 **Note:**

 **After a month of waiting I finally give you another chapter of the story.**

 **This chapter mainly consisted of Sansa's side of the story and just implementing factors into the story that will take effect later on. Once again I am going to have to ask for your guys' opinion on the Sansa that I am writing for this story. Is she being too much of a bitch? Is she a well balanced and respectable character? Am I basically just making another OC and slapping Sansa's name on her? YOU DECIDE.**

 **Also, if I haven't made it clear in this chapter then please just let me explain what's currently up with Lyarra. Basically, she has PTSD (OH GEE, I WONDER WHY?! WHAT COULD POSSIBLY MAKE THIS 7 YEAR OLD CHILD HAVE PTSD DURING THIS EXACT STORY?!). Obvious bullshiting on my part aside I don't know if I've shown off Lyarra enough nor if I've shown off most of these OC's enough so please just let me know if you want these guys to get more time to develop.**

 **AND NOW FOR THE BIG SUPER IMPORTANT MEGA ULTRA UBER GOD EXTREME MOUNTAIN DEW NACHOS NEWS:**

 **Now, starting as of this chapter I will be implimenting something that will count into every single one of my stories. That something is the fact that you guys who read my story can put your own OC's into the story. The way you can do that is to either leave your suggestions for OC's either in your reviews or in PM's. Appearance, character traits, how they could appear, all those kinds of things I what I am looking for when you make your suggestions. Please note that these characters will mainly be side characters with sort-of regular appearance in the story. Anything from knights, squires, soldiers, peasants, farmers, swordsman, mercenaries, merchants, lords from other houses or hell even your own house GO CRAZY WITH IT! Whenever you suggest an OC I will of course give credit to the creator of that character when they appear in the story.**

 **As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.**


	56. Chapter 55: Wolves, Bastards and Roses

**Chapter 55:Wolves, Bastards and Roses**

The battle had been won and whatever left of the mercenaries that survived were rounded up in the center courtyard to be interoggated. This wasn't so hard seeing as there were only about ten or so mercenaries left to gather up and six of those ten were severely wounded while the rest just had a few cuts and bruises. The whole mercenary party consisted of about 2,000 men. 1,000 infantry, 550 cavalrymen and 450 archers, all were somewhat decently armed but there was little to no consistency within their ranks. The ten people who had been captured seemed to be somewhat higher up in the ranks but none of them were the leader of the group. The only assumption was that the leader had died during the conflict.

As Triston continued to look on all the way from the stables he couldn't help but think about how it could have been fighting right in the middle of Riverrun's courtyard. Of course Triston was nowhere near the level of experience in combat an actual soldier or knight would have but from all those months of intense training with both Cregan as well as Arya he couldn't help but feel himself be at least a little bit more experienced in combat.

It was a few weeks ago when Triston realised how much muscle he had actually formed during all those training sessions. It wasn't something to marvel at but it was a completely different look he had from some two years ago. The scrawny, weak and frail boy he once was had now been replaced with a slightly more tough and durable boy. However, no amount of training will could improve his social skills. In that part, Triston needed a different type of training.

Throughout the whole battle Triston contributed extremely little, being able to take down only one mercenary and that one man managed to get the jump on him. It was only through pure instincts that Triston managed to survive through the whole thing in one piece. Arya on the other hand was able to take on ten or so fully armored and armed mercenaries all by herself. That could have been more than enough but only seconds later when Triston found her she still had the energy to play it off as nothing and share a laugh with him before running to where the rest of The Starks were.

"What are you staring at?" a voice came from behind Triston, making him jump in suprise as he frantically turned around. The suprise was for nothing as Triston saw Arya walking to him with Nymerya by her side. When he saw that Triston immediately calmed down, but not by much as his entire body was still slightly stiff, which was a normal reaction whenever he was around her.

"I'd ask you that same question." Triston remarked, trying to play off his suprise.  
"Well there are a few things to observe here." Arya said in a playful tone.  
"There definitely are..." Triston said, his voice now much quieter than before.

As he said that Triston couldn't help but take a look towards Arya, who was looking much better than she was yesterday. She had a new, more clean and less bloody dress that she was clearly comfortable wearing due to it being nothing but simple wool and her wearing simple shoes as well. That was another reason Triston liked Arya so much, she didn't fit in with the norm of most noble women. She didn't wear overbearing clothing that proved to be more a nuisance than a piece of clothing, she didn't act like an upstuck noble like most would to just a simple squire, even more so to a bastard squire, everything about her didn't fit in with what was expected with noblewomen.

While the silence between the two continued Triston could feel Arya's wolf Nymerya nudging on his leg. He looked down on the dark-grey wolf with a soft stare. Out of all the direwolves Nymerya seemed to be the most accepting of Triston, granted the other direwolves didn't necessarily distrust Triston, but they weren't as open with him as Nymerya and Arya herself was. Sometimes, when the two would finish with their sparring sessions, Arya and Triston would just sit down and talk, and talk, and talk. Those conversations would also sometimes last for hours, long into the night before they would eventually go to their own rooms.

"How's your sister doing?" Triston asked, ending the momentary silence between the two.

"Sansa? She's doing fine I guess. After the attack we had a maester take a look at her and thankfully it seems like she's going to be alright. While everyone was fighting one of those mercenaries seemed to push her onto a wall and made her hit her head slightly, there was no major damage and the injury only needed about two or three stiches to patch up. Right now she's resting in a bed and the maester says she should stay in bed for at least a few days. As for Lyarra, she still seems to be in shock after everything." Arya explained everything to Triston. The more she talked however, the more her tone showed how upset she was getting. This visibly made Triston upset as well, he couldn't bare to see Arya like that, but due to it being so rare Triston had never had such thoughts. "Imagine being so young and experiencing all of this?" Arya whispered, her voice being barely hearable.

"It's hard, Arya... it's hard..." Triston whispered back, however, unlike himself Arya didn't hear him. That was when Triston remembered that Arya didn't even know he was a bastard. But when he remembered that a sudden strike of fear took over Triston, that if she had found out who he really was Arya would abandon him, just like everyone always had.

"Hmm, did you say something Triston?" Arya asked, her voice still quiet.  
"No, it's nothing." Triston responded, playing it off as nothing special as silence once again began between the two.

After a few more moments of silence Arya spoke up. "It's funny..." Arya started, ending the silence between the two before continuing, "... as long as I can remember I wanted to travel throughout the world and explore all the different place and wonders Westeros and Essos had to offer. One day I dreamed I was on a boat sailing to Braavos, wind flowing through my hair with nothing but a sword by my side and a new horizon in front of my eyes." through Arya's little monologue Triston could notice the slightest hint of a smile starting to form around her lips.

"Another time, a few years ago, I told Cregan that I wanted to be just like him. Strong, cunning, skilled in practically everything he did..." it was at that moment when Arya's smile truly appeared, "... you should have seen his reaction. He gave me such a stare I almost fainted." Arya said, letting out a small chuckle when she said it.

"I'll never forget what he said to me that day, 'Don't you ever think I'm someone who you can be proud of Arya, someone like you should never experience the things I know'." as Arya recited her older brother's words Triston couldn't help but think of how cold blooded Cregan really was to his own siblings. Although everyone in The Stark family was probably used to it, Triston himself had quickly gotten used to Cregan's cold nature and endless amounts of stamina. But in the end, beneath the cold exterior and dead emotions, Triston always believed that there was at least something of a decent man hiding within Cregan.

"For years I wondered what he meant by that, at first I was angry with him, I thought he said that to me only because I was a girl and to say such things was 'un-lady like' of me..." Triston noticed how she said the last part of that with such distain. It was understandable however, all her life Arya was hammered with lessons on how to act like a lady, what was appropriate and what inappropriate, there were so many times that Arya would just let it all out while she was talking with Triston as well.

"... but after what happened yesterday, after... I killed... all those people... I think I finally know what he meant, and I finally know how it feels for all of these people." a tear slowly went down Arya's cheek before she could regain herself and go back to the cocky and confident Arya that Triston knew so well. But in the end, it was too far and Arya couldn't just recover all her composure in just a few simple seconds. Even Nymerya noticed this and quickly shuffled to her owner as Arya knelt down to hug the direwolf around it's neck.

It was then when Triston himself had realised what Arya was saying, well, to a point.

 _ **'You should never find any enjoyment in taking another life Triston. No matter what kind of person they were, a life is still a life and their deaths deserve even the littlest form of recognition.'**_ he had expected to hear Cregan's voice ring out in his head but Triston was shocked to hear another voice in his head, a strangers voice, one Triston couldn't even recall hearing once in his own life.

But in the end, Triston ignored the voice and focused on Arya, who had gone from hugging to petting her direwolf Nymerya, her eyes still slightly red from holding back her tears. Triston couldn't bare to see her sad anymore and finally decided to end it before Arya would actually start crying.

Triston walked up to Arya, who was still kneeling over and petting her direwolf, and placed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. Arya turned her head towards Triston and looked at him, trying to conceal her sad expression from him but at this point Triston already saw everything he needed to see to drop to his own conclusions. It was obvious to him for some time now that Triston started to have feelings for Arya, he wasn't sure if it was love, or just simple instincts for him as a man, but either way these were feelings nonetheless. It was for this reason that Triston somewhat felt an obligation to protect and comfort Arya in any way he can.

"Come on Arya, why don't we go and check up on your sister? Triston suggested in a calm voice, trying to comfort Arya in no other way than with his own voice.

She seemed to be suprised when he said that but accepted nonetheless with a slight nod. Arya took Triston's helping hand to get up and, followed by Nymerya, the two of them started to go inside to check up on Sansa and if he had the time Triston wanted to visit Lyarra as well.

 **Cregan's POV**

It had been a week since Cregan and his soldiers left Harrenhall. With a massive host of around 50,000 soldiers, now all with high morale and ready to get some revenge, the northeners anyway. This massive number was nowhere near like it was when Cregan marched to Harrenhall in the first place. Now, along with his small host of Northeners, 30,000 Reach soldiers had joined Cregan's side now. With those reachmen were Loras, who basically led The Reach host for Cregan while he himself led the northern host.

Cregan himself couldn't help but be suprised that Loras actually showed up with so many men, he was even more suprised to hear that Garlan sent another 30,000 to help Robb and his men. That was something that eased Cregan's worries for his older brother however. Despite him knowing of Robb's superior tactical mind, Cregan always worried for his family, something that he had hated about himself. But in the end, Cregan knew that Robb would be able to deal with anything The Lannisters could throw at him, but he couldn't say the same thing for Sansa and Arya.

That was why he left Triston in Riverrun. It might have been paranoid of Cregan but in the end people from The South don't believe in 'Honor in War', The Lannisters have a basically infinite amount of gold and this isn't the first time Tywin fought a war that wasn't in his favor. Tywin Lannister was known for his cruelty and it wouldn't suprise Cregan if he would try to hire assasins to kill or kidnap the rest of Cregan's family.

For the major duration ever since this war started both sides were somewhat balanced, now, the tides have turned and Cregan plans to take his own form of revenge on The Queen Regent and 'King' Joffrey. Ever since he had first saw the scrawny boy in Winterfell Cregan didn't like him, he was to pompous and arrogant for his position. Although that wasn't saying much seeing as who the previous king was, a fat, lazy, drunk pig. The fat, lazy, drunk pig who had knighted Cregan, who had made his father Hand of The King, who had trusted his father above everyone else. Yet after Robert Baratheon's death, his brothers proved to be as petty as The Lannisters themselves. Stannis had given everything he had to The Red God for his Iron Throne while Renly's ambition made him betray his own family.

Now, House Baratheon is practically extinct, a small little girl being it's only legitimate member left. That same small little girl who has spent most of her life in a secluded room all alone in Dragonstone. Cregan didn't want this to happen, he thought he could resolve the issue with House Baratheon if he was there, that he could maybe save Renly once the time had come, but he couldn't do it. Fate always has different plans and now, it seems fate was somehow on his side in the most strangest way.

Loras coming to Cregan with his host was obviously a result of Cregan's letter for Ollena and the only thing he could hope for is that she was the only one that read it. Cregan did trust Willas, Garlan, Loras and Margaery with his life but some things are worth more than his own life and the contents of that letter meant more than The Iron Throne itself.

"Cregan!" a voice called out to him as Cregan continued to ride at the head of the massive host.

When Cregan turned around he saw a seemingly endless line of soldiers, both from The North and The Reach, and to the side of that line was Loras, wearing his full steel armor adorned with steel roses on his chestplate as well as his brown scarf being wrapped around his neck and riding his horse in a somewhat slow gallop towards Cregan. It took Loras a few moments before he was able to catch up to Cregan all the way in the front of the army but finally he managed it and now the two were riding side by side.

"Everything is set and the units have all been set into their formations." Loras informed him.  
"And the supply wagons?" Cregan asked, slowing his horse down a bit to match Loras' own horse.  
"All have an equal amount of men defending them, don't worry." Loras answered.  
"Good. What about the captains?" Cregan continued to ask Loras.  
"Everyone has their own part of the army to command, all on your orders." Loras once again answered him.

While it didn't seem like it, Loras wasn't one for leading an army, that position was taken over more from his older brothers as Garlan always was an inspirational figure for his men while Willas was a master tactitian in every sense of the word, even if he didn't want to brag about it. Loras was always one for following orders rather than making the orders. Perhaps that was why he had taken such a liking to Renly, he did like giving orders in the form of friendly requests.

Cregan always knew of Loras and Renly's 'relationship' together as well as how they felt for each other. Cregan knew of Loras' preference's for a long time and it didn't really bother him too much. While in Renly's army this fact had actually benefited Cregan somewhat as he was able to spend some time with Margaery in secret and for as short as those little encounters with her were, Cregan enjoyed every single second of those moments. That was before his father was executed however, a time when he still believed he could save him. But instead of actually doing something to try and save him he just followed Renly around from village to village doing mini tourneys like this was some sort of game. His confidence got the better of him and now Renly is dead. Cregan listened to the voice and his father is dead.

"By the way, where's that direwolf of yours?" Loras asked, snapping Cregan from his thoughts.  
"He's somewhere in front of us, probably scouting ahead." Cregan answered.  
"Hmm... that so?" Loras mumbled, keeping his voice slightly low.

It was strange for Cregan to think that none of The Tyrells until Loras now had met Sif. Of course all of them knew about the direwolves, all of Westeros had basically heard about them but in reality very few people had actually been close to any of the direwolves. Of course everyone in Cregan's army, the northerner part anyway, was familiar with Sif and were quite accepting of him, Qyburn had even seemed to take a liking to him, although Cregan wondered if Sif himself had shared his liking to Qyburn. He wondered if Robb's men had the same stance of Greywind, once again the northerner part of it anyway.

"Loras?" Cregan asked, ending the momentary silence between the two.  
"What is it?" Loras responded.  
"When Renly... died... and you and Margaery left with your host back to Highgarden, tell me, was Margaery acting at all strange?" he asked.  
"Yes, she was acting rather uninterested in everything, kind of like you." Loras answered Cregan.  
"Oh..." that was all Cregan could say to Loras' answer.

It wasn't that Cregan didn't know why she was acting like that, in fact he knew exactly. Only a few days before the plan to take Bitterbridge Margaery had Cregan promise her that if something would happen the he would come with her to Highgarden. Cregan knew that the moment he made that promise he would have to break it when the day would come. Not only would that put her and Loras in danger, but also the rest of The Tyrells. He could only imagine how Margaery could have felt when Cregan just dissapeared out of nowhere.

The two have had arguments in the past, when they were kids they would constantly compete with each other in simple things and then it would end in an argument, as the two got older those arguments had slightly changed. One time, when they were both 13 Cregan had gone hunting alone in the woods and only came back long into the night. When he came back however Margaery was the only one who was awake to see him coming back to Highgarden, he never did forget how hard Margaery slapped him in the face for making her worry so much.

There was a similiar argument that happened when they were 15 however and Cregan was visiting Highgarden. He couldn't remember what exactly they were talking about but after a few minutes of arguing those arguments turned into both of them locking themselves in a bedroom and having sex. Quite the strange night.

"By the way Cregan, which way are we marching again?" Loras once again snapped Cregan from his thoughts.  
"We march to take Duskendale." Cregan answered Loras.

Duskendale was the most fomridable city in The Crownlands next to King's Landing itself. The city was currently being defended by 30,000 men, all led by Ser Arys Oakheart. The knight of the kingsguard was known for his seemingly endless loyalty to the crown and himself being one of the few current members to keep his oath. The man was also a formidable warrior but Cregan doupted he was anywhere near the level of Ser Barristan Selmy or even The Kingslayer, even Loras could probably take him.

There are two possible ways for the battle to end, both have high chances of ending in a total bloodbath. But Cregan doesn't intend on painting Duskendale red.

 **Note:**

 **Chapter 55 and with it comes some more exposition and a little bit more character building for Triston. Right so first off I have to apologise if this chapter is somewhat different from the rest, my computer broke down and I've wrote this whole chapter on an old laptop I haven't used in like 2 years so yeah.**

 **Now in this chapter we have a bit more Triston and Arya time and I wanted to ask you guys if I'm writing Arya alright because I think she just a bit too 'girly' in terms of her interactions with Triston but hey I just wanted your guys' opinion on that biz. Also in terms of the OC suggestions for this story I give credit to** _ImperialPrussia_ **for his suggestion and his own original house will be in the next chapter or the one after that, it ultimately depends.**


	57. Chapter 56: Dead Man's Diary

**Chapter 56: Dead Man's Diary**

 _Once upon a time there lived a man, a knight, a leader and a prince. The man lived up high in his castle with his entire family, his father, his mother, his brothers and his sisters. Through his early years the man already knew the pain of loneliness, and the consequences of that pain. He was the second child of six, his only real moments of importance were when he was being brought up in court or when he was training to be strong. The man had grown up in a warm family, a family that loved him, but in the end the kingdom came first and soon the man knew coldness, a coldness that he himself couldn't even explain._

 _The father was a kind and quiet man, who the prince would often find alone in his little room, sipping his tea and looking gloomily through his room that oversaw the entire kingdom. The mother was a sly and often rude person, to other people at least, a woman who valued her family and the state of the kingdom above all. The older brother was a man that had to be in the strongest and most perfect form a person of his standing should have. The sisters both were kind yet extremely shy, something that they inherited from their father. The younger brother was only a boy of six years old, still unknown to the rest of the world and still possesing the naivity a child his age should have._

 _For years the kingdom prospered and peace reigned across the land. The crops were fertile, the people happy, the markets bustling and the royalty fair. While the times were sometimes tough due to weather conditions or maybe sicknesses that would spread, people tried to stay in high spirits no matter what. The neighbouring kingdoms seemed to share the same mentality_

 _And while all seemed to be bright and good in the kingdom's future, the little prince still couldn't stop feeling cold..._

 **The North, Present Day...**

The wind was strong and the clouds began to form a dark grey, rain was sure to come, and soon. As it began to grow colder and colder the tower of Black Spire loomed over the sky, as if touching the clouds themselves. The people of Black spire, men and women from Last Hearth and Bear Island combined, seemed to be doing their best to gather what little crops were left until the coming storm passes. Black Spire might now have been the strongest and most defendable fortress in The North, not even close to the more long standing ones, but Black Spire's men had more fighting spirit than the entire North combined.

A Golden Pheonix emblazoned within a white field with a black horizontal cross flew atop the black tower in the middle of Black Spire, the simbol of House Furude. Around the tower were three walls, all expanding Black Spire even more but at the same time dividing the stronghold even more. The first wall was "The Military District" so to speak. It was where the walls were the most developed, fully stone without a hint of cracks in there. The second wall was the less developed "Market District" where most of the trade and marketing happened. It's walls were slightly less defendable than The Military District with most of it being made of stone as well but that was only the lower part of the walls with the rest of it being built in by wooden structures. The third and last wall was named "The Living District" as, out of all the "districts", this one's landscape was the most livable in as it had the most flat and fertile grounds even within it's own walls spanding a large area. Those walls however were completely made of wood with the only defence being the wooden spikes placed down in front of the third wall.

More and more the sky blackened as time passed, the night was sure to carry a strong storm, something that was going to make the night itself a terror for Black Spire and it's people. For the past month the Ironborn have been constantly raiding and pillaging across the entire North, as well as killing any villagers and townspeople along the way. So far the only strongholds in The North left standing are the ones who had any sort of decent defense to begin with. It was suprising how much the Ironborn had prepared themselves for this, although it would not be unthinkable seeing as how their last war for independence ended.

But as the simple residents of Black Spire continued on with their own lives, preparing to take care of their families for the upcoming storm and raids, the lord of Black Spire sat atop the highest floor of his tower, overlooking his subjects and soldiers.

The floor where he sat at was completely made from clean, dark stone, from floor to roof the entire room had been drenched in this black ambience that the stones created, making the furniture pop out as well. A long wooden table stretched across the room, along the table a decorated map of westeros that the lord used often to observe this strange country he came to. To the sides of the table were three other seats, all three meant for his generals. Llewellyn, Navyraike and Dorlavayn were the three people he entrusted the most, or at least the three people who he deemed fit enough to lead his army, what little he had left of it.

The Ironborn were not kind in their attempts to take over Black Spire. However, the Ironborn had one massive flaw, zero coordination among their own. They were not an army, they were a more suffisticated band of brigands and highwaymen. Back in Southoros the bandits would waste days tracking their potential targets, like a predator hunting his prey. These Islanders had the patience of a starving lion, desperate for even the tiniest amount of meat to chew on.

In a single second, his thoughts were interupted by a loud screech coming from the wooden door that lead to the room. When he raised his head to look at the source of the noise he saw a man with short, dark brown hair and turquoise colored eyes. Llewellyn was the mans name. A strong and trustworthy man with an inate sense of honor and duty to his lord. He wore a somewhat traditional set of armor with full black platings as well as having his Niku (his flesh) to his side, a personal blade Llewellyn has had almost since birth.

"Sukauto wa karera no ninmu kara modottekita watashi no shu Ruadan," Llewellyn said as he walked over to Ruadan and handed him the report.  
"Sugureta, arigato gozaimashita Llewellyn." Ruadan said as he took the report that the scouts have made and started to read it.

 _Watashi no shu Ruadan,_

 _Wareware ga miidashita mono o burakkusupaia ga kanzen ni kakoma rete iru koto kara,_

 _Watashitachi no teki wa sakerarenai saigonotatakai no junbi o shite iru yo de Koreha,_

 _Jikan de anata ni tasshita baai, Sonogo,_

 _Watashi no omo o yorokoba saiaku no tame ni anata jishin o junbi shimasu._

 _Anata no chujitsuna sukauto, Dorlavayn._

As Ruadan finished reading the report he could basically hear Llewellyn jumping around in his armor waiting impatiently for his lords next orders. In truth, the report wasn't much, it didn't even have the amount, it was more a letter of warning than anything else. But in the end, it seemed a storm was not the only thing Black Spire was going to have to worry about.

"Go chumon waga shu?" Llewellyn asked, eagerly anticipating what his lord was going to say next.  
"Naiheki ni zen'in o atsume, watashitachi no dansei wa sorera no subete ni sotte pojishon o toru hitsuyo ga ari, korera no yaban hito kara watashitachi no ie o mamoru tame ni itte imashita." Ruadan ordered.

And with those words Llewellyn immediately straightened his posture, "Hai watashi no denka!" he said as he pounded his chest once and ran out of the room to inform the entirity of Black Spire.

Ruadan had to admit it, it was strange for him to be speaking two languages, his native Southorosian language, along with this Westerosian language. Often Ruadan was held up in his tower so speaking his native language wasn't too rare but on common occasions when he stepped out of his tower to oversee his men and peasants he had to speak Westerosi, a language he found to be quite... simple, in nature, or atleast in comparison to his own. However, language was the last thing Ruadan had to be worried about now. His stronghold was in danger, his people, his soldiers, the entire life he had built in this new world, all of it was under the threat of being destroyed.

"Hagane no hoho ni shitagatte kudasai"

 **Cregan's POV**

 **Northern army entrenchment, borders of The Crownlands, late afternoon...**

 _Day 127,_  
 _Moral in the camp is low, Many soldiers have already deserted,_  
 _Some out of fear, Some out of anger,_

 _All this time however, all I can think of is the warmth of my own home,_  
 _The soothing voice of my wife, the brave shout of my son,_  
 _The sweet song of my daughter, the elderly tales of my grandmother,_

 _I will return to them, I will return to all of them with a smile on my face,_  
 _With a carriage of gold behind me and with that a proud smile,_

 _They say The Demon's army will be coming this way,_  
 _The scouts say it will be in two weeks time,_  
 _Until then we all train, we all prepare,_  
 _Until then I will write in this diary, writing until that day comes,_

 _They say his horde is unstoppable, but I have to survive,_  
 _I will survive, for Clara, for Fera, for Lucas, for them all._

Cregan continued to thoroughly read through the dead man's diary, observing every single letter and word as if it were an epic novel, a story to be passed down through the years to come. For the last few days Cregan had built up an obsession with this book, reading through as many pages as he can with what little free time he had. The diary belonged to a member of The Lannister army since Cregan found it when he, Rodrik, Dacey, Loras and Randyll Tarly (the last person wanted in his troop, he suspected Tarly felt the same way) accompanied by 50 heavy cavalry raided a Lannister encampment under the cover of darkness. Cregan got the diary off the ground near one of the burning tents belonging to some Lannister soldier.

At first, Cregan thought it to be a diary belonging to another simple levy in the Lannister host, but then he started reading the diary, and he kept reading it, eventually building the obsession more and more, wanting to find out the identity of who this person is. That obsession had grown so much that Cregan had been intentionally searching for some sort of family name or a lineage that he could follow, anything that he could link to this person, he didn't even know his name. He knew this wasn't a simple soldier due to him knowing how to write and obviously have some form of articulation but the hand writing was too rough to be that of a nobles, many times Cregan had an inate feeling to rewrite an entire page of text just for the writing to be the least bit readable.

'That was the 87th time he mentioned his family'  
 **'90th, you forgot about the times where he mentioned Lucas'**  
'Really? Where? Which page?'  
 **'The 51st and the 52nd along with page 70'**

As the voice in his head said that Cregan quickly flicked to said pages and read through them. He found the instances where the man mentioned his son Lucas who was trying to be a blacksmith and was currently an apprentice. "Strange..." Cregan murmured to himself as he read through pages 51, 52 and 53 all over again, seeing and noticing things he had not even noticed before.

 **'What's wrong?'**  
'This man, he speaks of his family so often, they must have been everything to him'  
 **'There are many people like that, you happen to be one of them as well'**  
'Tell me... were you like that in your own life?'

 **'...'**

'You don't need to answer if you don't want to'  
 **'No, it's fine I'm just wondering why you would ask me such a thing'**

'Well, I've been thinking...' Cregan put the diary down onto the table as he laid back against his chair that he often sleeped in as well, taking a moment to look at the tent he was in, '... aside from Sif, you're the only constant company I've had during this whole blasted march, well, aside from you know who. But I'd rather not even acknowledge his existence for the time being.' Cregan swiped his eyes to the right to see his direwolf Sif sleeping peacefully, his mouth completely greasy from the insane amount of venison he devoured from supper, the wolf seemed to an almost endless appetite, one of the many things Cregan couldn't help but just love the lazy mut for. Sometimes Cregan wondered if Sif could hear the conversations Cregan and the voice had in his mind.

 **'A valid reason I suppose...'**  
'Care to indulge my curiosoty?'  
 **'Very well...'**

 **'I don't have any clear memories of my past life, or even the person I was before all of this. Sometimes, I have slight blurs of images. A woman carrying a child, a small boy, across a field of golden flowers. I can't ever see their faces nor can I hear their voices but from how they stood and how they moved they seemed happy, content, fulfilled. On rare occasions I see a man walking along with the woman and child, someone who I can only presume is me from the life I once had.'**

'Do you ever want to go back to that life?'

 **'I don't know... Occasionally I yearn for a peaceful life with a family, with people I once loved. But I know that this yearning will one day die out. One day, when I lose what little feeling I have left in my soul and I just become another drop of water in the stream of fate. A drop that perhaps could have perhaps been a part of something greater, but will eventually lose all sense of self-worth and individuality.'**

'That's depressing...'  
 **'And that's an understatement...'**

'Perhaps. But if it makes you feel any better you and me can be hopeless together.'  
 **'Heh... I didn't know you could show me any form simpathy.'**  
'What can I say, I somewhat pity you, or maybe it's just that I feel that same way.'

Cregan then waited a few moments before seeing that the voice had stopped talking to him then, a common occurence, or maybe a rare one depending on how one could see it. But now that it was only Cregan, not including Sif, he picked the diary back up and continued to read through it. Why? Well, not even Cregan knew why, there was just that feeling of 'He had to do it'. He felt that if he could read through this entire diary, he would find out something, something important that would complete and resolve this irrational obsession.

"Who are you?"

 **Note:**

 **Chapter 56 is out and with it comes Ruadan Furude, the samurai badass from Southoros along with his House of heavily trained japanese stereotypes.**

 **Full credit should be given to PrussiaGaming who suggested this OC to me, check him out because if you do I get a free pay check for the sponsorship and free money is always nice. Seriously though, thanks to PrussiaGaming for the suggestion, once again if you guys have any suggestion for your own OC's then either leave it as a review or just PM me and I'll implement them into the story.**

 **Also, if you guys are wondering what's with how Ruadan and Llewellyn are talking then it's japanese. Later on I might update the chapter with actual translations for the dialogue or you people can just go to Google Translate (gotta get the immersion in son!).**

 **Along with the introduction to Ruadan and his House along with Black Spire we have what you could call a... bonding moment I guess? I don't know it was something with Cregan and the voice in his head interpret it in whatever way you can. Along with that the POV with Cregan introduced the little form of obsession he has with books and how he immerses himself in them too much. We'll have more on that later.**

 **As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.**


	58. Chapter 57: Nameday

**Chapter 57: Nameday**

Cregan woke up late in the morning, well, late for him anyways. The sun had already come out, soldiers were making their hourly patrols and Cregan could already hear everyone clanging around in their armors. It was strange really, Cregan had been used to waking up in complete silence for 8 long years, needless to say it would ultimately take time for Cregan to adjust since it was obvious things weren't going to be like the norm anymore. As he got up from his bed Cregan spotted Sif munching on a bone from last night's dinner, it was looking like Cregan was the only one who hasn't completely waken up yet.

He put on his tunic and the inner parts of his armor, being ever so vigilant for an ambush if it were to occur. Many people would probably be miserable when having to carry around heavy armor on themselves all day but personally Cregan didn't mind it, it made him feel more prepared and safer. On the table in his tent was already a plate with food on it along with a cup of wine, from the texture it looked like the wine was from Lys. Over the past few months up from when Cregan actually started drinking he had found that wine seemed quite enjoyable in taste, although nothing he's drunk so far has even been able to get him the least bit drunk.

To not waste the precious time he had already spent sleeping Cregan quickly ate the small piece of venison and poured it all down with the Lysian wine, it was quite enjoyable really but nothing better than a cup of Lady Ollena's tea, something that could only be discribed as 'divine' in taste and utterly disgusting in looks.

After the meal Cregan could hear the noises from outside only getting more crowded but it wasn't bothering him too much. Nothing he hasn't experienced before and for these past months this kind of enviroment was commonplace not just here right now but in all of Westeros, what with probably the third greatest war the country has ever seen going on right now.

As Cregan sat down for a moment to catch his composure since he had just woken up and eaten breakfast he noticed the bandage on his hand had come loose a bit.

A week ago Cregan and his raiding party of around 1000 men were attacking a Lannister entrenchment within the borders of Duskendale's region. The small amount of men was because Cregan wanted to keep the casualties to a bare minimum since from where they left off from Harrenhall they had already lost 8000 good people, dwindling their numbers down to 52000. It would actually acout to about 50000 if they were consider the people who were busy recovering from either injuries or fatigue. On that certain raid Cregan had his mind elsewhere for some reason and opened up a small window for his opponents to get a drop on him. A lannister soldier, seemingly a recruit from his uniform, had jumped Cregan and was able to stab him with a dagger. Thankfully Cregan was able to block the dagger but the downside was that he had to block it with his hand due to him not paying full attention.

Cregan could only stare at the bandages as he unsuccesfully tried to tighten the ones on his hand. While he was trying to do that no one other than Maester Qyburn entered Cregan's tent. Sif often didn't react to the old maester and this time was not different. It was strange really, Sif had a habit for either showing his disdain or his trust whenever a person would enter a room but with Qyburn it was almost as if he doesn't exist to him.

"Admiring your battle scars general?" Qyburn asked in his old and fatherly voice.  
"Well, something like that." Cregan answered simply, "Do you need something Maester?"  
"Oh no I simply came to check up on your wound." the old maester said.

As he said that maester Qyburn walked up to Cregan to inspect the wound on his hand. "May I?" Qyburn asked as he reached out his hand to Cregan's and began to look over the stab wound. The dagger itself had not gone entirely through Cregan's hand to thankfully there wasn't a giant gaping hole there but the wound was still clearly visible. "Hmm... the flesh has healed quite nicely." Qyburn mumbled seemingly to himself, "I must say general, I'm impressed. People don't usually come clean from this kind of wound in only a week's time." from his voice it seemed like the maester was almost praising Cregan's wound, although in reality Cregan himself knew why the healing had been so fast.

"Well it seems you arm is going to be fully healed before we even arrive to Duskendale general. I see no reason for you not to be participating in the siege, however, I advise you to rest until that day comes." Qyburn gave his analysis of the situation and while Cregan didn't agree with him just standing by from the camp while his men do most of the work he also thought that risking his arm getting infected would also be extremely foolish nonetheless.

Qyburn wrapped new bandages around Cregan's arm and continued to leave after bowing respectfully.

When he was about to leave however, Qyburn bumped into Loras, who was also just entering Cregan's tent. "Lord Tyrell, please forgive me..." Qyburn said putting on a more feeble and elderly persona, it reminded Cregan of Grand Maester Pycelle in all honesty.

"Oh, Maester Qyburn, no it's quite alright. Are you okay?" Loras asked in concern, falling for the persona.  
"No I'm quite alright my lord you needn't worry." Qyburn answered as he left the tent.

Cregan could only watch this all in silence, he wasn't quite in the talking mood today but since Loras was here it seemed inevitable. As Qyburn left Loras had walked up to Cregan's table and taken a seat next to him. "Heard a new story about you yesterday..." Loras said, seeing as how Cregan was getting a bit absent minded.

"Is that so?" Cregan asked as Loras caught his attention. "What is it this time? Do I devour the flesh of my enemies? Do I impale all of the corpses on the battlefield and set them up almost as trophies?" Cregan thought of all the stories that he had heard about himself over these past eight years, they mostly went from somewhat grounded to completely absurd. Many were simple insults that The South had come up with, some were stories about his supposed 'secret origin'. All of it was complete nonsense but Cregan had to admit it became almost like a game for him, to pick which kind of story he would hear this time, and ultimately just add it to the little library in his mind.

"No, this one's about your mother, something about how she was the Stranger's mistress." Loras answered.  
"Well, at least it's somewhat original." Cregan said as he started to inspect the battle reports from last week.  
"They don't bother you?" Loras asked.  
"By now it's all empty words Loras. I've been over them for years now." Cregan said.  
"Well if you say so, although I doupt there would be so much of these if you were to show the people the reality of your situation." Loras said.  
"Like I said, they are empty words that barely mean anything to me." Cregan once again clarified.

It almost looked like Loras was trying to convince Cregan into clearing these idiotic rumors but frankly it wasn't worth his time to be dashing rumors that probably even the people who were telling them knew they weren't true.

"Oh right, I almost forgot..." Cregan said as he put the reports on the table and got up from his chair. Loras continued to sit down and look at Cregan confused. As he walked up to the small pack near his bed Cregan pulled out a small wooden carving, highly decorated with extreme detail put into it. "Here, it took some time and it was a bit harder since I left my carving knife in Winterfell." Cregan said as he handed Loras the small wooden carving.

Upon closer inspection the carving was of the rose of House Tyrell, their sigil. Loras looked completely suprised by this.

"Cregan... this is-... it's beautiful but... why?" Loras asked as he continued to look at the carving.  
"It's your nameday isn't it? That's your gift." Cregan answered simply.  
"What? You remembered? I- I don't know what to say-" Loras tried to speak as a smile came on his face.

"Then don't. No use in trying to thank me for a two-bit gift that I managed to carve last second. I would have gotten you a better one but since were currently in the middle of a war then you can understand how that would be a bit hard for me." Cregan explained in an uninterested and monotone voice as he sat back down on his chair and non-chalantly continued with inspecting the reports.

"Well alright then." Loras said as he put the carving in his pocket with a smile, "But still, thank you Cregan". And with that Loras left Cregan's tent.

He may not want to admit it but Cregan felt guilty about not giving Loras a better gift for his nameday since he, Margaery, Garlan and Willas were the reasons he has Frostbite and Demonsteel. When this is all over, if they all end up alive when it is, Cregan wanted to show his gratitude for all the things The Tyrells had done for him, he wanted to repay their kindness tenfold.

 **Note:**

 **Oh boy it's been a while hasn't it lads? How long has it been, almost a month now?**

 **Well my goddamn lazyness aside this was a really short chapter just to roundup Cregan's story since he and his army won't be appearing until they reach Duskendale (and with the speed this story is progressing that's probably going to be in like a year or two). I wanted to leave this off on a bit of a softer note since the next few chapters are going to be... interesting to say the least.**

 **Northerners, Ironborn, death, destruction, rape and everyone's favorite bastard of Bolton, RAMSAY FUCKING SNOW! All due to appear in the next chapters.**

 **As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do post your reviews and tell me your thoughts on the story so far, your advice etc. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows and I will see you all next time.**


	59. Update

OH YOU THOUGHT I WAS GONE?! YOU THOUGHT I DISSAPEARED FROM THE FACE OF THIS SITE?! YOU THOUGHT THAT THIS GARY STUE-WRITING, UNINSPIRED, DEGENERATE SHELL OF A FUCKING MAN COULD BE TAKEN DOWN?! WELL GUESS WHAT I'M BACK BITCHES!

So a quick explanation: For those who haven't read the last chapter of A Worthy King I'm going to just run by a quick TL;DR. Basically my computer broke down around 8 months ago so I wasn't able to read, write or even check my profile on the site. The only way I was able to write the last chapter of A Worthy King was when a friend of mine let me borrow his laptop. And yeah that is my explanation on what had caused my 8 month dissapearance.

And now for a rundown on what to expect: In the next few days you guys can expect a new chapter of Demon of The North so finally I can continue the story I've been pausing since December. As for A Worthy King do not worry I haven't abandoned that either. After DoTN I will make a new chapter for Worthy King. Subsequently I'll be changing the chapter updates in that order. I'll be trying to keep the chapter updates to once a week although I don't have a certain or specific day for when those chapters are gonna come out.

One week is gonna be a Demon of The North update.  
The second week is gonna be a Worthy King update.

In between those weeks I might be releasing some stories that are mainly the result of some new ideas that have been stirring in my head. So feedback would be welcome on that when it comes out. 


	60. Chapter 58: Rain

**Chapter 58: Rain**

 _'Rain... I fucking hate Rain'_ Vesemir thought to himself as he, Tarkus and Edwyn finished up on their end.

Across the dirt road laid around a dozen Ironborn corpses. It was a small patrol but despite that all of them were well armed with suprisingly good-quality equipment. All of them wore chainmail laced with thick furs, giving them just the extra amount of protection one needed to survive a potentially lethal attack. Along with chainmail all of them also had either battleaxes, spears or a combination of both axe and shield. It always was a bother when his opponents were armed to the teeth and covered in armor. The usual weakpoints of armor like plate armor or chainmail was usually the neck or limbs, places where the armor either didn't cover or covered less of.

All the while the clouds gathered and only got darker, a sign of rain. But right now Vesemir needed to take care of the last raider. The man was bleeding, his stomach opened up and his arms busy with trying to keep his guts from slipping out. If he had the ability or the strenght left to talk the raider would have probably begged for mercy, perhaps in some vain hope he could save himself from bleeding out. Or maybe not, the Ironborn were always a fanatical bunch, they thought that death in battle was the only possible way to reach their supposed paradise where they could drink, fight and fuck all they want. Either way Vesemir quickly put him out of his misery as he swung his sword and cut the raiders throat.

"Everything alright back there?" he shouted after turning around to see if Tarkus and Ed had killed the rest of the rabble.  
"Aye, none of them are breathing, none that I can see at least." Tarkus responded to the old man.  
"None on my side as well. I was suprized to see how little of a threat they all posed." Edwyn said as the three of them grouped up so they can stop shouting.

"I found two bags of food, looks like they were trying to save these for something." Tarkus said, pointing his cleaver towards said bags.  
"Perhaps these were the last of their supplies." Edwyn spoke his mind as they all cleaned the blood from their weapons.  
"Food is famously scarce in the North during winters." Tarkus added to Edwyn's presumptions, picking up the two bags for later use.  
"Except it isn't winter, not yet at least." Vesemir also got in to discussing Edwyn's theory.  
"You're not honestly telling that bastard boy Ramsay has got the Ironborn running with their tail between their legs?" Edwyn said.

"Think about it. These last three months we've seen nothing but patrols going past roads that lead OUT of The North. The Ironborn aren't made for occupation, they're made for raiding and pillaging and then getting out as fast as they can. Any half-decent army with a good commander could take out an Ironborn raiding party given the fact they don't outnumber them tremendously. Even with all the food storages the sudden war with The South probably caused a shortage of food in most Northern strongholds. Ramsay Snow is also a loose canon. I don't know much about him but from what I've heard he's an extremely manipulative and emotionless madman. People like that are unpredictable, even for someone like the Ironborn. He could easily outwit them in terms of strategy and tactics."

"You might have a point." Tarkus said, "Someone like that bastard, someone who doesn't care for morals or doesn't even have some twisted sense of honor, he's too dangerous. Which means..."  
"Our job just got a whole lot more dangerous." Edwyn finished Tarkus' thought, or rather what all three of them were thinking.

Vesemir, Ed and Tarkus stood in silence for a few moments, leaving themselves to settle in their own thoughts for a second. In truth Vesemir had expected this, there was no way the five of them could just go to Winterfell, get the Stark boys, and get out. He was more worried for Tarkus and Lily. It was already hard for Tarkus to be killing his own countrymen but now this. The thing that made Tarkus look so shaken was not the danger Ramsay posed, but what could be happening to Bran and Rickon right now. Lily was the most in danger in this situation, she's not ready to deal with someone like Ramsay, and Vesemir intends to keep that madman as far away from her as possible. Edwyn was visibly the most afraid of the three. For good reason.

"Well then we shouldn't waste any time then. Besides, brooding in fear isn't really something I'm used to." Vesemir broke the silence between the three. "Come on, we should regroup back with Lily and Rodrick and try to find some shelter before the rain starts pouring again."

"That's won't be necessary." at that point all three of them turned around to see Lily and Rodrick on their horses, Rodrick was leading Tarkus and Vesemir's horses while Lily was leading Ed's horse.  
"Speak of the devil and a little girl and her brother shall appear. You two find us a place to rest for the night?" Vesemir asked to which the two siblings merely nodded in response.  
"There's a cave not too far from here it's deep enough so even if we light a fire it won't be that visible." Lily said to Vesemir.  
"Did you check the cave for any animals or people?" Edwyn asked in a snarky tone.  
"How else did we know that the cave was deep enough Edwyn? Yes, yes we have." Lily responded in an equally snarky tone.  
"The? Entire? Cave?" Ed asked again slowly.  
"For the last time Edwyn I said I was sorry! I had no idea that pack of wolves had that place as their den!" Lily shouted in both anger and annoyance.  
"Alright that's enough you two. Ed, stop guilt tripping the poor girl. Lily, calm down." Vesemir stopped the two from letting the argument go any further.

"Now come on, all of you. I'm not traveling another night wrapped up in soaked clothes." Vesemir said as he signaled Tarkus and Ed to mount up. The five were all now on horses and slowly but surely following Lily and Rodrick to the cave and get some shelter for the night. Ever since they left Harrenhall Vesemir and his group had made a habit of traveling during the night, it was a good way to stay concealed and not draw too much attention even though taking care of those patrols undouptedly put some attention on the roads. However, traveling at night also meant dealing with the elements in a more harsher enviroment.

Rain usually poured a lot faster and more frequently during the night rather than the day so the group had a choice. Travel during the day and risk running into an Ironborn raiding party or travel by night and risk dying of a fever. Needless to say everyone had gotten their fair share of being soaked at this point so they decided to risk it and travel while the sun is out, or rather what little of it there is comes out, and take a rest during the night. None of them had coats so The North's cold and harsh enviroment had more of an effect on them, all except Tarkus who was use to it by now.

After some time the five finally arrived to the cave . It was a part of a small mountainside so Vesemir doupted anyone would be coming around their backside. The cave itself had a lot of forest area surrounding it's entrance so unless someone was tailing them or looking for any tracks nobody was going to be able to follow them here.

"Alright everyone, gather all the supplies from the horses and get them inside. Lily, I need you to start a fire as soon as you can. Tarkus, go get us some firewood, it's going to be a long night and I would like to not freeze to death. Rodrick, Ed, I need you to see how much food we have left, I want to know how much longer we have. I'll stand guard around here, see if anyone's been tracking us." Vesemir instructed to everyone and so they did.

First everyone took the supplies that the horses were carrying into the cave, including the two bags of food Tarkus had found from the patrol earlier. The supplies were nothing much except essentials. Things like food, sleeping bags, torches and cloaks, not fur cloaks mind you but cloaks made of simple cloth. They were good for keeping the rain off your clothes but it's not like they had anything to dry off the cloaks themselves so Vesemir, Ed, Tarkus, Rodrick and Lily mainly kept to their own clothes, perhaps not the smartest decision but it was better than being slowed down by a wet cloak.

 **A Few Hours Later...**

The sun had fallen and the moon had risen. Night was upon them as outside the rain poured. It was quite strange really, Vesemir hated the rain but he couldn't help but admit that it would sometimes help him sleep better. The same could be said for his companions as Lily, Tarkus and Edwyn had already fallen asleep with Vesemir and Rodrick being the only ones left to tend to the fire. Vesemir had always found some comfort when sitting next to a fire, whether it was in his childhood or during his time at King's Landing or even now, fire had always been there for him, shielding him from the things that roamed around in the darkness.

"Vesemir." Rodrick whispered, trying not to wake up his friends.  
"What is it lad?" Vesemir continued to stare blankly into the fire, his usual smirk lost to an expression of emptyness.  
"Why are we here?" to his question Vesemir finally broke sight from the fire, turning his head towards Rodrick.  
"Rodrick you know why were here, I already told you our job." Vesemir said dumbfoundedly.

"No, I mean why are we HERE. Vesemir you know we're not good at fighting wars, we promised ourselves to not get involved with the politics of Westeros and yet here we are, fighting against half the country. Don't tell me it's because of the pay, I've known you long enough to know you couldn't care less for gold. Is it because you think the Starks will give you some sort of title? You think they're gonna give you land to live on?" when he heard Rodrick talk Vesemir couldn't help but sigh at the boys words.

"I'm not getting any younger, you know that Rodrick." Vesemir started to explain. "Sooner or later, these brittle bones are going to give out and I'm going to die. Sooner or later, Tarkus' armor isn't going to protect him anymore, he'll die. Sooner or later, Edwyn's mind is going to fade, he'll die. You and Lily are still young, you have an entire lifetime ahead of you, us three, we've already lived our lives, we made peace with the fact that every single day could be our last. When this war is over, if any of us are going to be left standing, I want it to be you two. When this war is over I want you to find yourself someone to settle down with, have yourself a family, become a father, enjoy life for once. I want the same for Lily." as he listened to Vesemir's words Rodrick was visibly upset.

"I don't want you to die. I don't want any of you to die." the boy said in a sad tone.  
"I know Rodrick. But that's the reality of the world we live in. At some point we all have to dance with the Stranger." Vesemir said.

As silence once again befell the two of them Vesemir stood up from the fire and streched himself out. "I'm off to check outside, get some fresh air, clear my head a little. Get some rest son, we'll be moving out as soon as the sun comes out." Vesemir said as he started to walk towards both the exit and entrance of the cave, not bothering to bring his sword as there probably weren't any dangers outside with such harsh weather

 ** _'Do you really believe those lies you told the boy?'_**  
 _'Be quiet, I don't need you making me even more depressed right now.'_

He had only gotten a few feet away from the fire before a hand reached and grabbed Vesemir by the collar of his clothes. Soon the cold edge of a dagger could be felt grazing the skin of Vesemir's neck. "Vesemir!" Rodrick shouted quickly getting up and grabbing his longsword, pointing it at the assailant currently holding Vesemir hostage.

"I am getting the weirdest sense of deja vu here." Vesemir whispered to himself, recalling quite the familiar situation happening a few months back.

Rodrick's shout woke up the rest and it didn't take much time before everyone had their weapons pointed both towards Vesemir and in turn Vesemir's assailant. Lily had her bow lined up with an arrow she quickly took out of her quiver, Rodrick and Edwyn both had their weapons pointed towards the attacker as well while Tarkus was practically ready to rush and strangle the man the moment he saw an opening.

"Alright is anyone else having that feeling of deja vu." Vesemir asked the four, taking the situation far more lightly than everyone else.  
"Seven hells Vesemir this is not the time for jokes!" Edwyn said, his hands still on his weapon, ready to attack at any moment.

"All of you stand down and I won't hurt your friend, or you could try and attack, it really makes no difference to me." the mysterious stranger threatened the four, gripping the knife tighter to Vesemir's throat. To the strangers words however Vesemir heard somethin familiar, the voice, a voice he had possibly not heard in decades. In his mind he was contemplating what to do about this, he was assesing the risk of what he was about to do. After a few seconds of thinking he slowly and inconspicously turned his head a bit to face the strangers ear.

"Griffin, Horn, Fire..." he whispered to the man's ear and almost immeadiately he felt the mans grip loosen as his eyes went wide with suprise.

The stranger pushed Vesemir away to the suprise of his entire group, that however didn't stop them from pointing their weapons at him, had Vesemir not been pushed directly in front of him he was sure that Tarkus would have charged the attacker. Vesemir took a second too check if his throat had been cut but thankfully there was no damage. When he turned around to look at the man who was holding him at knifepoint he saw him clad in a black cloak with the handle of a sword weering out from the back. The stranger was completely wet from the rain, it looked like he snuck into the cave during the storm, the sound of the rain masking his footsteps, and hid in a side crevace.

"I never thought I'd see you here... Vesemir..." the stranger said, mentioning his name in an almost spiteful tone.  
"I could say the same for yourself." Vesemir's tone of voice was much more cheerier, althought that tone also had it's own simmer of spite.

"I presume you two know each other?" Edwyn asked as everyone still had their weapons pointed at the the stranger.  
"That we do Ed. Everyone, this is..." Vesemir was about to introduce him to the group before he was interrupted.  
"My name's Kennat and... sorry for holding you hostage Vesemir." Kennat introduced himself and apologized.  
"Right... Kennat this is Ed, Tarkus, Lily and Rodrick." Vesemir introduced his group one by one.  
"I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you all but from the circumstances you all would say otherwise." Kennat said.  
"Yes, you think?" Lily dropped in, still having her bow pointed at Kennat.

"Alright everyone drop the weapons, there'll be no need for that now. Kennat over here... is an old friend."

 **Note:**

 **And with that ends chapter 59.**

 **This entire chapter focused on Vesemir and his groups adventures as, like I said before (8 months ago), the story wouldn't be featuring Cregan and his army for some time. The next few chapters are going to be about the events in The North and what's happening with Robb's party, so look forward to that. For me it was great getting back in the saddle and starting to write again, this chapter may not have been very action packed (in fact it was quite dialogue heavy) but in the following chapters there are going to be a lot more full scale battles and not just sieges or ambushes. So once again, look forward to that.**

 **Oh and just a little bit of information. From now on I will be responding to all reviews in the Authors Note since a lot of reviews don't have verified accounts and are guests so this way I can better respond to what you all are saying. Be it encouragement, criticism, advice, dick sucking or straight out flaming. All are welcome.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed, as always thank you for all the favorites, follows and reviews and I will see you all next time.**


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